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THE   BARBARY   COAST 


DR.   FIELD'S    BOOKS   OF    TRAVEL. 


FROM  THE   LAKES  OF  KILLARNEY  TO   THE  GOLDEN 
HORN.     Crown  8vo,  $2.00. 

FROM    EGYPT   TO   JAPAN.      Crown  8vo,   $2.00. 

ON   THE    DESERT.      Crown  8vo,  $2.00. 

AMONG  THE  HOLY  HILLS.  With  a  map.   Crown  8vo,  $1.50. 

THE    GREEK    ISLANDS,  and  Turkey  after  the  War.     With 
illustrations  and   maps.     Crown  8vo,  $1.50. 

OLD  SPAIN  AND  NEW  SPAIN.  With  map.  Crown  8vo,  $1.50. 

BRIGHT    SKIES    AND    DARK    SHADOWS.        With    maps. 
Crown  8vo,  $1.50 

The  set,  7  uols.,  in  a  box,  $12.00. 

Gibraltar,    illustrated.   4to,  $2.00. 

THE    BARBARY    COAST.      Illustrated.     12mo,  $2.00. 

THE    STORY    OF    THE    ATLANTIC    TELEGRAPH. 
Illustrated.     l2mo,  $1.50. 


THE    GORGE   OF    CHABET 


THE  BARBARY  COAST 


BY 


HEKRY  M.  FIELD 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW  YORK 
CHAKLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1893 


Copyright,  1893,  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Press  of  J.  J.  Little  &  Co. 
Astor  Place,  New  York 


PREFACE 

Many  years  ago  I  met  in  the  heart  of  India  a  Ger- 
man missionary,  who  had  not  seen  his  native  country 
in  forty  years.  At  last  the  way  was  opened,  and  he 
hasted  across  the  sea  to  look  upon  the  Fatherland  once 
more  before  his  eyes  should  close  in  death.  But  the 
visit  was  a  disappointment,  and  he  returned,  saying  with 
true  German  simplicity,  "  Europe  is  too  narrow  for  me !  " 
We  smile  at  this,  but  might  we  not  ask  in  all  sober- 
ness, "Why  Europe  only?"  Why  indeed,  when  at 
Gibraltar  we  are  in  sight  of  an  older  continent,  and 
even  from  Marseilles  it  is  but  a  day's  sail  to  Algiers, 
where  we  are  in  another  world,  under  other  skies,  and 
among  other  races  of  men — a  quarter  of  the  globe  that 
is  old  and  yet  new,  as  it  is  still  a  field  of  discovery  ;  so 
that  it  has  at  once  the  charm  of  the  known  and  the  un- 
known, of  history  and  of  mystery  ?  I  have  been  four 
times  in  Africa  :  twice  in  Egypt  (once  up  the  Nile),  and 
twice  on  the  Barbary  Coast ;  and  each  visit  increases  the 
fascination.  In  the  perfect  winter  climate  one  lives  in 
the  open  air,  and  I  sit  under  the  palms  and  see  the  world 
pass  by.  The  picturesque  life  of  the  people  is  a  study 
for  an  artist.     I  look  on  with  amused  curiosity,  but  soon 


VI  PREFACE 

there  comes  another  feeling,  a  doubt  whether  in  all  this 
gay  scene  there  is  more  of  gladness  or  of  sadness.  Poor 
old  Africa !  I  love  her  for  her  very  woes :  and  if  I 
sometimes  drop  into  an  undertone,  and,  in  drawing  with 
a  free  hand  these  African  pictures,  give  the  dark  back- 
ground, with  the  lighter  figures  on  the  canvas,  it  is  to 
turn,  if  I  may,  the  eyes  of  our  more  favored  countrymen 
to  a  distant  shore,  that  they  may  look  with  tenderness 
and  with  pity  on  a  land  of  so  much  beauty  and  so  much 
sorrow. 

Christmas,  1893. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

Tis  BUT  A  Step  to  Africa 1 


CHAPTER  11 
Dear  Old  Gibraltar — Tue  Black  Watch 8 

CHAPTER  HI 
Carrying  the  War  into  Africa 25 

CHAPTER  IV 
Taking  Mine  Ease  in  Morocco     .......      32 

CHAPTER  V 
Palace  and  Prison 47 

CHAPTER  VI 
Prom  Tangier  to  Algiers .59 

CHAPTER  VII 
Algiers 70 


Vlll  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VIII 

PAGE 

The  Robbees'  Den 79 

CHAPTER  IX 
In  Grand  Kabylia 88 

CHAPTER  X 
The  Gorge  of  Chabet 107 

CHAPTER  XI 
GrOiNG  Down  into  the  Desert 120 

CHAPTER  XII 
A  Railroad  across  the  Sahara 131 

CHAPTER  XIII 
From  Biskra  to  Constantine 144 

CHAPTER  XIV 
Lights  and  Shadows  of  African  Life 154 

CHAPTER  XV 
How  the  Moslems  Fast  and  Pray 165 

CHAPTER  XVI 
Lion  Hunting  in  Numidia 175 

CHAPTER  XVII 
The  Last  Great  Man  of  Africa 182 


CONTENTS  IX 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

PA6K 

GooD-BY  TO  Algeria 204 

CHAPTER  XIX 
Tunis— Arab  and  French     .....,,.    211 

CHAPTER  XX 

> 
The  Fall  of  Carthage 229 

CHAPTER  XXI 
A  Sound  of  War 250 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  Gorge  of  Chabet Frontispiece 

The  Light-house  at  Cape  Spartel    .        .        .  Facing  page    42 

A  Street  ix  the  Old  Town  of  Algiers   .        .  "          "70 

An  Arab  School "          "78 

El  Kantara  :  The  Gates  of  the  Desert         .  "          "     120 

An  African  Pet "          "     124 

Caravan  leaving  Biskra "          "131 

In  the  Desert  of  Sahara "          "     138 

constantine "          "     148 

Prayer  in  the  Desert •*          "      172 

A  Street  in  Tunis "          "     212 

The  Ancient  Cisterns  at  Carthage          .        .  «          <«     234 

The  Sultan  of  Morocco "          "     254 

Cavalry  returning  with  the  Heads  of  Rebels  "          "     256 

Map  of  the  Barbary  Coast       .        ...  At  end  of  volume 


THE  BARBARY  COAST 


CHAPTER  I 

'tis    but   a    step   to    AFRICA 

Gibraltar  is  the  stepping-stone  to  Africa,  and  Gibral- 
tar is  but  a  step  from  America.  So  it  seems  if  one  sails 
direct  for  the  Mediterranean,  instead  of  taking  the  long 
and  roundabout  way  through  England,  France,  and  Spain. 
It  is  but  little  over  a  week  from  shore  to  shore.  The 
voyage  is  not  tedious,  but  restful.  After  a  long  strain  of 
hard  Avork,  there  is  nothing  so  quieting  to  nerves  and 
brain,  as  to  lie  on  deck,  stretched  in  a  steamer  chair,  and 
look  off  with  dreamy  eyes  upon  the  distant  horizon. 
Every  league  that  is  left  behind  lightens  the  strain.  The 
winds  blow  care  away.  Though  it  was  winter — a  winter 
of  shipwrecks — the  storms  had  swept  the  ocean  farther 
to  the  north  ;  and  as'  we  bore  to  the  south,  it  grew 
warmer  day  by  day,  till  the  portholes  were  all  open, 
and  the  air  that  floated  in  was  that  of  June. 

Nor  was  all  the  sunshine  without :  we  had  sunshine 
•within.  "With  a  good  ship,  the  Fulda,  and  a  brave  cap- 
tain, we  had  also  an  agreeable  company.  The  first  man 
who  faced  me  at  table  was  a  late  member  of  Conofress 
from  Massachusetts,  Mr.  John  E.  Russell,  who  prefers 

T 


2  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

the  pleasure  of  travel  to  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet,  and  is 
going  abroad  with  his  wife  to  pass  a  few  months  in  the 
south  of  Europe.  Next  to  rae  sat  Richard  Harding 
Davis,  one  of  the  most  popular  of  the  young  writers 
of  our  country.  A  party  of  twenty  had  their  faces  set 
toward  Jerusalem,  and  a  sad-eyed  priest  was  returning  to 
Rome.  I  observed  him  as  the  man  who  never  smiled. 
Perhaps  he  could  not  after  seeing  the  wickedness  of 
America.  He  always  sat  apart  on  deck  at  the  hour 
of  sunset,  apparently  absorbed  in  his  devotions,  perhaps 
repeating  his  Ave  Maria.  Nor  did  I  wonder  at  his  being 
moved  in  such  a  presence  and  at  such  an  hour,  as  he 
looked  off  upon  that  unceasing  worshipper,  the  ever 
solemn  sea,  which,  in  its  slow,  measured,  rhythmic  move- 
ment seems  like  a  mighty  organ,  through  which  the 
tempests  breathe  their  anthems  of  praise  ;  and  over 
which,  when  it  sinks  to  rest,  the  sunset  flames  as  if  it 
were  nature's  evening  sacrifice. 

In  mid-ocean  the  monotony  of  the  voyage  was  broken 
pleasantly  by  passing  through  the  Azores.  The  first 
island  to  show  its  rugged  front  was  Flores,  nine  miles 
long,  rising  boldly  and  abruptly  from  the  sea,  a  formation 
which  indicates  that  it  was  thrown  up  by  a  volcanic 
eruption,  and  is  really  the  crest  of  a  submarine  mountain, 
which,  if  fully  exposed,  would  be  one  of  the  highest  on 
the  globe,  as  the  ocean  around  it  is  the  deepest,  having 
been  sounded  to  a  depth  of  four  miles.  The  darkness 
came  upon  us  as  we  swept  along  its  shores,  but  the 
morning  showed  us  another  island  still  larger  and  more 
populous. 

I  had  left  word  with  the  steward  that  I  should  be 
called  at  the  first  sight  of  Terceira.  I  slept  with  one  eye 
open,  and  one  ear  too,  to  catch  his  footstep.     It  was  stiU 


'tis  but  a   step   to   AFRICA  8 

dark  when  there  came  a  tap  at  my  door,  and  in  five 
minutes  I  was  muffled  up  in  a  thick  overcoat,  and  on  the 
bridge  with  the  captain.  The  sun  was  not  up ;  the  waning 
moon  was  still  above  the  horizon  ;  but  there  was  an  inex- 
pressible beauty  in  the  coming  on  of  daylight  over  the 
sea.  As  it  touched  the  cottages  on  the  hillsides,  it 
drew  forth  the  simple  people  to  see  the  great  steamer 
floating  by  ;  the  maidens  waving  their  handkerchiefs  to 
us  as  we  passed,  to  which  the  captain  responded  with 
salutes  from  his  steam  whistle.  It  would  have  been  a 
pretty  scene  at  any  hour,  but  it  needed  that  soft  morning 
light  to  make  it  so  exquisite. 

The  island  is  twenty  miles  long,  and  its  hillsides  pre- 
sented a  succession  of  villages  from  one  end  to  the  other, 
whose  whitewashed  houses  shone  brightly  in  the  morning 
sun.  In  the  centre  of  every  village  stood  the  church, 
and  here  and  there  a  convent,  showing  the  devout  faith 
of  the  Portuguese  inhabitants. 

The  land  is  highly  cultivated,  and  divided  off  into 
little  plots  of  ground,  like  the  fields  of  wheat  and  barley 
in  Palestine.  Already  the  spring-time  had  come,  and 
the  landscape  was  "  dressed  in  living  green."  Flocks  of 
sheep  were  feeding  on  the  very  tops  of  clifl's  that  came 
down  in  sheer  precipices  to  the  sea,  while  in  the  interior 
large  herds  of  the  broad-horned  cattle  find  abundant 
pasturage.  The  volcanic  soil  here,  as  around  Vesuvius, 
is  favorable  to  the  cultivation  of  the  vine,  w^hich  flour- 
ished greatly  till  the  vineyards  were  literally  eaten  up  by 
the  j)hyloxera,  which  has  proved  as  destructive  here  as  in 
France.  This  destroyed  the  chief  industry  of  the  island. 
Then  the  people  took  to  raising  sugar,  but  the  price  has 
been  so  reduced  in  other  countries  that  it  yielded  little 
profit.    From  sugar  they  turned  to  sweet  potatoes,  which 


4  THE  BARBAKY   COAST 

they  raised  not  so  much  for  food,  as  to  be  distilled  into 
a  spirit  that  is  shipped  in  large  quantities  to  other  coun- 
tries, to  furnish  a  basis  of  alcohol  for  wines  and  brandies, 
that  are  sold  at  high  prices  as  absolutely  pure !  What- 
ever profit  this  may  bring  to  the  islanders,  it  can  do  no 
good  to  the  countries  abroad.  Bat  there  is  no  such  draw- 
back on  the  oranges  and  lemons,  which  grow  abundantly, 
and  are  as  rich  and  luscious  as  tliose  of  Palermo,  and 
furnish  a  large  article  of  export  to  Europe  and  America. 

But  with  all  the  resources  that  are  left  them,  the  people 
are  very  poor ;  and  as,  in  spite  of  their  poverty,  they 
multiply  like  the  children  of  Israel  in  bondage,  some 
families  having  eighteen  or  twenty  children,  there  re- 
mains no  resource  but  emigration,  which  is  chiefly  to 
South  America,  where  they  find  their  own  race  and 
religion.  The  captain  had  been  to  Terceira  no  less  than 
five  times  to  take  off  companies  of  emigrants  to  Brazil. 
He  described  the  parting  scenes  as  most  affecting  when 
the  poor  people  crowded  on  board  to  take  leave  of  their 
kindred.  Parents  clung  to  their  children,  and  sisters  to 
their  brothers,  whom  they  might  never  see  again.  Amid 
them  all  stood  the  priest,  Avith  the  people  pressing  round 
him,  to  kiss  his  hand  or  his  robe,  and  receive  his  blessing. 
After  such  a  picture,  who  could  pass  the  miles  of  cot- 
tages in  which  these  simple,  loving,  trusting  people  live, 
without  a  kindly  thought  of  those  who,  in  their  humble 
homes,  love  each  other  with  an  intensity  not  always  to 
be  found  in  the  dwellings  of  the  rich  and  the  proud  ?  It 
is  this  mutual  tenderness  that  sweetens  human  existence 
in  cottage  or  castle,  without  which  life  is  not  worth 
living. 

But  the  Azores  are  not  wholly  given  up  to  poverty 
and  destitution.      On  our  left  is  an  island  which,  though 


'tis  but  a   step  to  AFRICA  5 

not  in  sight,  and  though  it  be  the  smallest  of  the 
group,  is  the  richest  of  them  all  in  its  natural  produc- 
tions. Unlike  its  larger  sisters,  it  is  not  of  volcanic  for- 
mation, and  therefore  not  all  hill  and  mountain,  but  one 
broad  plain,  a  little  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  with  a 
soil  that  bears  everything.  This  gem  of  the  Azores  fitly 
bears  the  sweet  name  of  Graciosa. 

On  the  other  side  of  our  course,  but  not  too  far  south 
to  be  seen,  lies  the  flourishing  island  of  St.  Michael, 
the  richest  of  all  the  group  in  commerce,  as  Graciosa  is 
in  agriculture.  Its  harbor  is  the  chief  seaport  of  ships 
sailing  in  these  seas,  as  it  is  protected  by  an  enormous 
breakwater,  behind  which  they  can  take  refuge  from  the 
storms  that  are  sometimes  very  destructive  in  this  part 
of  the  Atlantic. 

The  town  has  a  large  population,  with  many  signs 
of  wealth  in  the  beautiful  villas  that  peep  out  from  the 
foliaore  on  the  surroundinof  hills.  Some  of  these  have 
extensive  gardens  planted  with  all  kinds  of  trees.  In 
the  interior  are  fine  roads  that  are  carried  along  the 
sides  of  mountains,  with  many  an  outlook  on  the  encir- 
cling sea.  On  these  ruffo^ed  heifjhts  there  are  forests  of 
pines,  while  on  the  sunny  slopes  nearer  the  sea,  and  in 
sheltered  nooks,  the  palm  grows  as  in  Egypt.     Thus 

"  The  palm  tree  whispers  to  the  pine, 
The  pine  tree  to  the  palm." 

Such  pictures  of  this  happy  island  made  us  regret  to 
pass  it  in  the  night — a  regret  that  we  had  also  for  Faj^al 
and  for  Pico,  which  takes  its  name  from  the  peak,  over 
seven  thousand  feet  high,  that  is  visible  sixty  miles  away. 

However,  the  brief  and  hasty  glimpses  that  we  caught 
of  these  islands  have  made  them  familiar,  so  that  the 


6  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

Azores  are  no  longer  distant  and  unknown  parts  of  the 
globe.  One  day's  sight  has  brought  thera  nigh  to  us, 
and  henceforth  they  are  our  neighbors  and  friends,  and 
we  shall  always  have  a  tender  feeling  for  the  islanders 
who  dwell  in  the  midst  of  the  seas. 

As  the  last  summit  sank  beneath  the  horizon,  we  bore 
away  into  the  open  sea.  A  day's  sail  to  the  south  would 
have  brought  us  to  Madeira.  But,  as  we  were  bound  in 
another  direction,  the  ship  was  swung  more  to  the  east, 
bearing  straight  for  the  Mediterranean.  On  Sunday 
afternoon  we  came  in  sight  of  Cape  St.  Yincent,  the 
southwestern  point  of  Portugal,  a  bold  promontory  which 
would  be  like  the  white  chalk  cliffs  of  England,  except 
that  here  the  cliffs  are  red,  a  fitter  color  for  the  scenes 
of  blood  that  they  have  looked  down  upon  :  for  it  was 
off  this  cape  that  a  great  naval  battle  was  fought  in 
1797,  in  which  Nelson,  though  not  the  highest  in  com- 
mand, greatly  distinguished  himself ;  and  here,  eight 
years  after,  he  lay  with  his  ships  behind  this  rocky 
wall,  waiting  till  the  French  and  Spanish  fleets  came 
out  of  Cadiz,  when  on  this  same  coast,  a  hundred  miles 
below,  was  fought  the  greater  battle  of  Trafalgar. 

We  were  now  approaching  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar, 
and  the  captain  slacked  his  speed,  not  wishing  to  enter 
till  daylight.  I  told  Fritz  to  waken  me  as  soon  as  we 
made  the  land.  He  came  as  before,  and  when  eight 
bells  struck,  which  to  a  seaman  means  four  o'clock,  I 
was  on  the  bridge,  with  no  companion  but  the  captain 
and  the  cat,  which  appreciated  our  lonely  situation,  and 
came  purring  at  our  side.  As  we  were  to  have  a  long 
wait,  the  captain  took  me  in  his  room  for  a  cup  of  coffee, 
when  we  resumed  our  watch.  The  stars  were  shining  so 
brightly  that  the  shores  on  either  side  were   distinctly 


TIS  BUT   A  STEP   TO   AFRICA  7 

visible.  The  first  light-house  was  that  of  Tarifa,  the 
most  southern  point  of  Spain.  Then  appeared  a  light  on 
the  opposite  coast,  to  be  followed  by  that  on  Europa 
Point,  at  the  very  end  of  Gibraltar.  One  by  one  the 
passengers  had  crept  ypstairs,  but  it  was  not  till  we 
were  between  the  two  Pillars  of  Hercules,  and  just  turn- 
ing into  the  bay,  that  Richard  Harding  Davis,  who  has 
the  frame  of  an  athlete  and  had  slept  like  a  trooper, 
stalked  on  deck  as  if  still  not  quite  awake  ;  and,  turning 
his  big  head  slowly  round  from  one  side  to  the  other, 
asked,  as  if  somewhat  bewildered,  "  Where  is  Europe  ? 
And  where  is  Africa?" 

And  so  we  glided  gently  to  the  haven  where  we 
would  be.  The  voj-age  did  not  seem  long;  indeed,  it 
would  have  been  a  pity  had  it  been  shorter.  We  left 
New  York  on  a  Saturday,  and  on  a  Monday  morning, 
after  one  week  at  sea,  dropped  anchor  in  front  of  the 
Rock  of  Gibraltar  just  at  the  firing  of  the  sunrise  gun. 


CHAPTER  II 

DEAR   OLD    GIBRALTAR THE   BLACK    WATCH 

Gibraltar  was  familiar  ground,  and  as  soon  as  I 
stepped  on  shore  I  was  at  home.  There  was  the  same 
varied  life  that  had  bewildered  and  bewitched  me  before. 
In  walking  up  Waterport  Street,  one  sees  all  colors  and 
races — Jew  and  Gentile,  Spaniard  and  Moor,  Arab  and 
Turk  in  their  turban  and  fez,  with  the  Maltese  and 
Levantines  seen  nowhere  but  on  the  Mediterranean.  It 
was  a  constant  entertainment  to  hear  them  jabber,  though 
I  understood  not  a  word,  while  the  military  elements 
had  to  me  a  great  fascination.  I  liked  to  see  the  red 
coats,  and  to  hear  the  rub-a-dub,  and  the  blast  of  the 
bugle,  and  the  tramp,  tramp,  of  armed  men. 

Coming  back  to  a  place  which  interested  me  so  much 
six  years  ago  that  I  wrote  a  book  about  it,  I  find  the 
oflBcial  population  almost  wholly  changed.  The  old 
regiments  are  gone.  The  former  Governor  is  dead,  and 
so,  I  am  told,  is  General  Walker,  the  veteran  survivor  of 
Indian  and  Crimean  wars ;  and  Lord  Gifford,  the  Colo- 
nial Secretary,  who  was  so  polite  to  me,  is  in  service 
elsewhere. 

In  the  fortifications,  also,  I  find  a  good  many  changes. 
The  first  object  of  interest  to  a  stranger  is  the  galleries 
in  the  Rock,  cut  during  the  famous  siege  a  hundred  years 
ago,  to  serve  as  casemates,  from  which  the  garrison  could 
pour  down  shot  and  shell  upon  the  Spanish  besiegers, 
making  their  approaches  on  what  is  now  the  neutral 


DEAR  OLD   GIBRALTAR — THE    BLACK  WATCH  9 

ground.  But  on  my  present  visit  the  galleries  did  not 
look  so  formidable  as  before,  and  to  many  of  the  em- 
brasures there  were  no  guns.  I  was  puzzled,  and  feared 
that  I  had  exaggerated  the  extent  of  these  galleries  or 
their  importance.  But  the  mystery  was  soon  explained. 
The  long  galleries  that  I  visited  before  are  now  closed  to 
the  public,  which  is  amused  with  a  meagre  show  of  but 
half  a  mile.  What  is  half  a  mile  of  guns  when  you 
looked  for  two  miles? 

The  same  exclusion  is  extended  to  a  large  part  of  the 
fortifications,  to  all  the  new  constructions,  and  to  the 
most  vital  parts  of  the  old.  The  stranger  is  no  longer 
permitted  to  ride  his  mule  along  the  zigzag  path  up  the 
mountain-side  to  the  signal  station,  nor  to  stand  on 
the  plateau  of  the  Rock  gun,  nor  climb  to  O'Hara's 
Tower.  The  limits  to  which  he  may  go  are  fixed,  and 
the  guards  have  strict  orders  to  let  no  one  pass  who  is 
not  in  uniform.  In  some  places  he  may  look,  but  not 
take  any  picture  or  photograph.  Even  in  the  old  part 
of  the  town  there  are  many  things  which  a  visitor  may 
lay  his  eyes  upon,  but  he  must  keep  what  he  sees  only 
in  his  memory.  No  artist  may  sketch  an  overhanging 
rock  that  he  finds  a  picturesque  ix)int  of  view,  but  on 
which  may  be  mounted  a  battery  that  the  authorities 
desire  to  have  concealed.  No  amateur  must  take  snap 
shots  with  his  kodak,  unless  he  wishes  to  have  a  heavy 
hand  laid  upon  his  shoulder. 

The  reason  for  this  rigid  restriction  it  is  easy  to  under- 
stand. The  question  for  England  is  the  defence  of  the 
greatest  fortress  in  the  world,  and  a  defence  against 
forces  many  times  greater  than  Eliott  withstood  a  hun- 
dred years  ago. 

Within  the  last  twenty  years,  ever  since  the  Franco- 


10  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

Prussian  war,  military  men  in  Europe  have  been  exer- 
cised with  the  question  of  attack  and  defence  both  on 
land  and  sea.  Wooden  ships  have  been  replaced  by 
ironclads,  in  which  the  guns  are  fewer,  but  heavier, 
throwing  shot  to  greater  distances  and  with  more 
destructive  effect.  The  old  fortresses  were  made  of 
stone  walls,  which  would  not  stand  an  hour  against 
modern  artillery.  At  last  it  came  to  the  question, 
whether  Gibraltar  itself  was  safe.  It  had  once  made 
an  immortal  defence,  but  what  chance  would  Eliott 
have  stood  if  a  line  of  ironclads  had  sailed  up  alongside 
the  King's  Bastion,  against  whose  sides  his  hot  shot 
would  have  been  poured  in  vain?  Even  rock  ribbed 
hills  are  now  torn  to  pieces  by  dynamite  and  nitro- 
glycerine, and  what  might  not  happen  if  these  new 
explosives  and  all  the  enginery  of  war,  guided  by  some 
future  Moltke,  were  turned  against  Gibraltar  ? 

To  determine  the  question  of  its  defensibility,  the 
English  Government  sent  out  a  distinguished  military 
engineer,  who  examined  the  Rock  from  end  to  end,  and 
from  base  to  summit,  as  the  result  of  which  he  advised  a 
double  security,  in  the  strengthening  of  the  old  walls  by 
new  and  heavier  guns,  and  the  addition  of  another  line 
of  defences  that  is  entirely  new. 

To  carry  out  the  first  part  of  the  plan,  the  number  of 
guns  has  been  diminished,  but  only  to  be  replaced  by  a 
smaller  number  of  greater  power.  In  my  walks  about  the 
town,  I  looked  down  from  the  Alameda  upon  a  defender 
of  Gibraltar  that  seemed  not  likely  to  be  removed  in  any 
change  of  administration.  To  such  a  permanent  resident, 
what  in  Boston  would  be  called  a  "  solid  citizen,"  I  could 
not  be  wanting  in  respect ;  and,  republican  as  I  am,  I 
took  off  my  hat  and  made  a  very  low  bow.     It  was  the 


DEAE  OLD   GIBRALTAR — THE    BLACK   WATCH  11 

hundred-ton  gun  !  Napoleon  used  to  say  that  "  power 
is  never  ridiculous,"  and  this  was  the  embodiment  of 
power.  Even  Mark  Twain  could  not  make  a  joke  of 
annihilation.  Such  a  gun  is  a  monster  of  destruction,  a 
king  of  death.  But  though  he  is  held  in  awe  and  receives 
an  homage  almost  like  worship,  he  is  for  the  most  part  a 
dumb  idol ;  he  seldom  clears  his  throat  to  speak,  for  the 
very  substantial  reason,  that  every  time  he  opens  his 
black  lips  he  costs  the  English  treasury  fifty  pounds — 
two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars !  There  are  but  few 
soverei^rns  in  the  world  Avhose  lio:htest  word  is  worth  so 
much  as  this.  It  is  an  event  in  the  year  when  his  thunder 
is  heard.  But  the  day  that  we  arrived  he  was  fired  off 
three  times.  "Was  it  a  salute  to  a  party  of  distinguished 
Americans  ?  TVe  will  take  it  at  that,  and  accept  it  in 
full  of  all  accounts.  Strange  to  say,  as  I  was  at  that 
time  in  the  galleries  at  the  other  end  of  the  Rock,  I  did 
not  hear  it.  But  Davis,  who  was  in  that  part  of  the 
town,  says  the  explosion  was  like  an  earthquake.  I  am 
willing  to  take  his  word  for  it,  and  will  not  ask  to  have 
the  experiment  repeated. 

"With  all  the  awe  I  feel  for  his  iron  majesty,  if  I  were 
called  upon  to  christen  him,  I  should  be  puzzled  to  know 
what  name  to  give  him.  "  Destroyer "  and  "  Peace 
Maker"  are  too  common.  Suppose  we  compromise  on 
"  The  Last  Argument,"  or  General  Grant's  nickname  of 
"  Unconditional  Surrender."  British  pride  might  like  to 
call  him  "  The  Lion  of  Gibraltar."  A  lion  he  is,  indeed, 
whose  mighty  roar  shakes  the  very  Rock  itself.  But  do 
not  wake  him  up,  for  if  I  were  once  to  hear  him,  I  am 
afraid  I  should  consider  it  an  immediate  summons  to  the 
Day  of  Judgment. 

This  hundred-ton  gun  has  a  mate  overlooking  Rosia 


12  THE  BAEBARY  COAST 

Bay,  and  there  are  several  of  eighty  tons  that  are  placed 
along  the  line  wall,  on  a  level  that  will  enable  them,  at 
point-blank  range,  to  sweep  the  waters  of  the  bay. 

And  now,  in  addition  to  all  this,  is  being  introduced 
an  entirely  new  system  of  defence,  not  at  the  fo.ot  of  the 
Rock,  but  on  the  top  of  it,  making  a  mighty  rampart  of 
the  very  crest  of  the  mountain.  When  this  was  begun, 
visitors  and  amateurs  were  shut  out,  that  engineers  might 
come  in  and  have  full  sway.  The  work  has  been  going 
on  for  years.  Every  point  of  vantage  has  been  seized, 
and  sharp  rocks  have  been  smoothed  off  for  batteries, 
mounted  with  the  most  powerful  guns  known  in  modern 
warfare.  To  drag  such  guns  to  the  top  of  the  mountain 
was  a  work  of  incredible  labor.  Sometimes  thirty  mules 
were  harnessed  to  a  single  gun  ;  and  if  that  were  not 
enough,  two  hundred  stalwart  soldiers  would  add  the 
strength  of  their  lusty  arms.  This  was  indeed  a  pull  all 
together ;  but  with  all  this  they  could  move  but  a  few 
rods  a  day,  so  that  it  was  weeks  before  a  gun  could  reach 
its  destined  height.  But  at  length  they  have  got  them 
in  such  number  that  they  are  planted  at  intervals  all 
along  the  crest  of  the  Rock,  as  if  from  this  mountain 
heiofht  Eno;land  would  hurl  defiance  at  a  world  in  arms. 

At  the  southern  end,  overlooking  the  Mediterranean, 
where  once  stood  O'Hara's  Tower,  is  now  planted  a  gun, 
which,  though  not  of  such  heavy  metal  as  some  below,  is 
of  prodigious  range ;  indeed,  I  was  told  (incredible  as  it 
seems)  that  it  would  throw  a  ball  fifteen  miles !  If  so,  it 
would  fall  in  Africa.  This  would  be  a  great  achieve- 
ment of  military  engineering ;  but,  morally,  would  there 
not  be  something  horrible  in  the  very  idea  of  the  Pillai*s 
of  Hercules  thus  stretching  out  their  mighty  arras  across 
the  Strait  that  divides  them,  the  ancient  Calpe  hurling 


DEAR  OLD   GIBRALTAR — ^THE    BLACK  WATCH  13 

thunderbolts  over  the  sea,  to  fall  at  the  foot  of  Abyla, 
the  Mount  of  God  ! 

But  while  observing  the  picturesque  figures  in  the 
streets  of  Gibraltar,  I  could  not  but  recall,  with  renewed 
interest,  the  historical  associations  connected  with  regi- 
ments that  have  made  themselves  famous  in  all  parts  of 
the  world.  Of  one  of  these  in  particular  I  learned  a  his- 
tory that  will  be  of  interest  to  American  readers.  "When 
I  was  here  before,  I  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Murray,  the  minister  of  the  Scotch  Church, 
and  learned  that  he  was  still  at  his  post.  But  I  did  not 
find  him  in  the  same  home,  for  he  had  been  "  promoted" 
into  a  manse.  I  was  glad  that  the  goodly  custom  which 
obtains  in  dear  old  Scotland,  that  every  minister  have  a 
roof  over  his  head,  is  extending  to  the  outposts  of  the 
Church  abroad.  It  is  not  the  same  thing  to  live  in  a 
hired  house,  and  move  about  from  pillar  to  post,  as  it  is 
to  have  a  fixed  habitation.  Especially  in  a  place  like 
Gibraltar,  Miiere  the  military  population  is  all  the  time 
coming  and  going,  it  is  a  little  too  much  like  living  in 
a  tent.  But  to  have  a  house  that  is  a  part  of  the  church 
property,  and  that  cannot  be  alienated,  gives  the  occu- 
pant a  feeling  of  permanency,  as  if  the  whole  establish- 
ment— church,  manse,  and  minister — were  anchored  to 
the  Rock  itself.  The  manse  is  a  Soldiers'  Home,  as  they 
return  from  service  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  wan- 
dering Scot  has  not  to  inquire  the  way  to  the  minister's, 
for  the  manse  on  Scud  Hill  is  as  well  known  as  any  pri- 
vate residence  in  Gibraltar,  and  he  is  free  to  knock  at 
the  door,  sure  of  a  hearty  Scotch  w^elcome,  of  a  warm 
grasp  of  the  hand,  and  of  any  kind  service  which  it  is  in 
the  power  of  the  minister  to  render.  Here  I  found  Mr. 
Murray  in   his  ample  library,  and  in  the  midst  of  his 


14  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

charming  family,  engaged  heart  and  soul  in  the  work  he 
has  to  do.  A  great  sorrow  had  just  come  to  him  in  the 
loss  of  a  part  of  his  congregation  by  the  removal  of  a 
Scottish  regiment,  the  famous  Black  Watch,  which  has 
been  for  the  last  three  years  stationed  in  Gibraltar. 
These  brave  Scots,  though  far  from  their  native  island, 
did  not  forget  the  "  land  of  the  mountain  and  the  flood," 
nor  the  churches  among  the  hills  to  w^hich  they  had  been 
wont  to  wend  their  way  along  the  country  side.  A  few 
of  the  officers  belonged  to  the  Church  of  England,  but 
the  great  body  of  the  rank  and  file  were  sturdy  Presby- 
terians. These,  of  themselves,  made  a  congregation  that 
crowded  pews  and  aisles  to  such  a  degree  that  the  min- 
ister was  obliged  to  leave  his  own  church,  and  hold 
special  services  in  a  larger  building  erected  near  the 
barracks ;  and,  here  every  Sunday  morning,  the  gallant 
Highlanders,  arrayed  in  tartan  and  kilt,  marched  in,  five 
or  six  hundred  strong,  to  worship  God  after  the  way  of 
their  fathers. 

The  regimental  band  supplied  the  music,  not,  of  course, 
with  the  sound  of  fife  and  drum,  or  of  trumpet  and 
bugle,  which  would  ill  become  the  holy  place,  but  with 
all  stringed  instruments. 

And  the  singers,  as  well  as  the  players  on  instruments, 
were  there,  not  to  sing  any  new-fangled  verses,  set  to  the 
light  and  trifling  airs  that  make  up  so  much  of  mod- 
ern sacred  music.  Nothing  would  they  have  but  the 
"Psaumes  of  Dawvid,"  which  they  sang  in  a  volume 
which  we  might  liken  to  the  sound  of  many  w^aters,  only 
that  no  sound  in  nature  is  so  thrilling  as  that  of  human 
voices,  rising  and  swelling  in  praise  and  adoration.  It 
was  enough  to  inspire  any  preacher,  and  I  envied  my 
brother  the  privilege  of  speaking  to  such  a  host  of  armed 


DEAR  OLD   GIBRALTAR — THE   BLACK  WATCH  15 

men.  Brave  soldiers  that  they  are,  ready  to  face  any 
danger  in  this  life,  they  are  not  afraid  to  face  the  reali- 
ties of  the  life  to  come ;  and  so  they  relish  good,  strong 
doctrine,  presented  to  them  with  a  bold  and  manly  utter- 
ance, such  as  their  fathers  were  Avont  to  hear  when,  in 
the  days  of  persecution,  they  met  in  the  glens  of  Scot- 
land to  worship  God. 

But  this  happy  relation  was  coming  to  an  end.  The 
recent  troubles  in  Egypt  had  called  for  an  increase  of 
the  English  troops,  and  the  Black  Watch  was  put  under 
orders.  It  left  but  three  weeks  since  for  Alexandria,  but 
finding  that  the  flurry  was  over,  and  that  political  affairs 
had  reverted  to  their  former  state  of  tranquillity,  they 
were  ordered  still  farther  away,  down  the  Red  Sea,  and 
out  into  the  Indian  Ocean,  to  garrison  the  island  of 
Mauritius. 

The  departure  of  such  a  body  of  men  at  one  stroke 
took  away,  I  will  not  say  the  better  part,  but  certainly 
the  larger  part,  as  well  as  the  more  picturesque  and  in- 
teresting part,  of  the  congregation  of  the  Scotch  Church, 
and  was  indeed  a  great  loss  to  the  pastor,  who  has  had 
them  for  three  years  as  a  part  of  his  flock — a  loss  which, 
however,  may  be  made  good,  if  they  have  as  their  suc- 
cessors in  the  autumn  another  famous  Hio^hland  reo:i- 
ment,  the  Cameronians. 

Meanwhile  let  us  not  forget  the  parting  heroes.  It  is 
a  duty,  not  only  to  them,  but  to  ourselves,  to  keep  up 
the  traditions  of  glory  as  the  most  powerful  stimulus  to 
the  heroic  deeds  and  heroic  virtues  by  which  nations  are 
saved ;  and  so,  while  the  sails  of  the  ships  that  carried 
them  away  are  hardly  below  the  horizon,  we  may  recall 
their  memorable  history. 

So  much  had  I  been  interested  in  what  Mr.  Murray 


16  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

told  me,  that  I  asked  him  if  he  could  direct  me  to  any 
book  that  gave  a  record  of  the  long  service  which  had 
made  the  name  of  the  Black  Watch  so  famous  in  the 
military  history  of  England  ;  whereupon  he  took  from 
his  library  a  massive  volume  entitled,  "  A  History  of 
the  Scottish  Highlands,  Highland  Clans,  and  Highland 
Regiments,"  *  from  which  I  have  gleaned  a  few  facts 
that  I  put  on  record  in  memory  of  those  who  once 
fought  for  us  "  in  the  brave  dsijs  of  old." 

The  Black  Watch  had  its  origin  in  a  public  necessity, 
growing  out  of  the  disturbed  condition  of  Scotland  at 
the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  when  the  distance 
from  England  was  ten  times  as  great  as  now,  that  in  a 
few  daj'^s,  or  even  a  few  hours,  an  army  can  be  trans- 
ported to  the  border.  Then  the  Highlands  were  very 
far  away,  and  inhabited  by  a  bold,  independent,  and 
somewhat  lawless  race,  more  ready  to  follow  the  chiefs 
of  their  clans  to  the  field  than  to  yield  obedience  to  Eng- 
land. In  1715  they  had  been  in  open  rebellion,  and 
might  be  again.  To  guard  against  such  an  event,  the 
men  of  substance,  whose  chief  interest  was  that  of  gen- 
eral tranquillity,  joined  to  form  half  a  dozen  independent 
companies,  of  not  more  than  a  hundred  men  each  (three 
of  them  had  only  seventy-five),  that  were  posted  about 
the  country  in  small  detachments,  to  overawe  any  tur- 
bulent elements  and  preserve  the  peace  of  the  realm. 
They  were  composed  entirely  of  Highlanders,  and  were 
picked  men,  of  a  higher  station  than  soldiers  generally, 
the  sons  of  good  families,  who  had  not  only  a  country  to 
fight  for,  but  an  honorable  reputation  to  sustain.  That 
they  might  not  be  wanting  in  military  bearing,  "  special 

*  Published  by  A.  Fullarton  &  Company  in  Edinburgh  and  London. 


DEAR  OLD  GIBRALTAR— THE    BLACK   WATCH  17 

care  was  taken  to  select  men  of  full  height,  well  propor- 
tioned, and  of  handsome  appearance."  They  retained 
the  Highland  dress,  the  most  conspicuous  feature  of 
which  was  the  broad  tartan  plaid  that  was  wound  about 
their  bodies.  This  was  sometimes  called  the  belted  plaid, 
because  it  was  bound  by  a  belt  to  the  body  so  tightly 
that  it  was  like  the  ancient  girdle  about  the  loins,  by 
which  every  muscle  was  strung  to  its  utmost  tension.  In 
this  belt  could  be  thrust  the  dirk  and  pistols,  worn  by 
him  Avho  could  afford  to  buy  them,  for  they  were  not 
a  part  of  the  soldier's  kit.  Thus  accoutred  in  tartan  and 
kilt  and  blue  bonnets,  they  made  a  gallant  sight  when 
drawn  up  on  parade  or  set  in  battle  array.  To  distin- 
guish them  from  the  regular  soldiers,  who  were  sometimes 
called  Ked  Coats,  because  their  coats,  waistcoats,  and 
breeches  were  of  scarlet  cloth  ;  the  tartans  of  the  High- 
landers were  of  more  sober  colors — black,  green,  and  blue 
— which  gave  them,  when  drawn  up  in  long  lines,  a  dark 
and  sombre  appearance,  from  which  they  were  christened, 
the  Black  Watch,  a  name  which  they  were  to  make 
famous  through  the  greater  part  of  two  centuries,  on  a 
hundred  battle-fields,  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe — 
Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and  America. 

As  the  regiment  was  composed  of  independent  com- 
panies, raised  for  a  local  purpose,  that  of  self-protection, 
its  first  duty  was  at  home,  in  Scotland  ;  and  it  was  with 
a  reluctance  that  amounted  almost  to  mutiny  that  it  was 
marched  into  England,  and  finally  took  service  in  foreign 
countries,  where  it  soon  distinguished  itself  at  the  battle 
of  Fontenoy,  in  which  it  was,  for  the  first  time,  pitted 
against  the  French,  whom  it  was  afterward  to  meet  on 
so  many  bloody  fields.  The  French  had  often  met  the 
English,  but  now  found  new  adversaries  who  waged,  war 
2 


18  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

with  a  jSerceness  they  had  not  seen  before.  A  French 
writer  could  only  describe  their  style  of  warfare  by  com- 
paring it  to  the  elements,  thus :  "  The  Highland  furies 
rushed  in  upon  us  with  more  violence  than  ever  did  a 
sea  driven  by  a  tempest." 

This  swiftness  of  movement  and  fury  of  attack  must 
be  ascribed,  in  part,  to  their  native  strength  and  endur- 
ance. It  was  the  pure  Highland  blood.  At  the  battle  of 
Fontenoy  there  was  not  a  man  in  the  regiment  that  was 
born  south  of  the  Grampian  Hills.  Coming  of  a  rugged 
race,  they  were  brought  up  to  every  kind  of  hardihood. 
Always  climbing  the  mountains,  they  acquired  the  agil- 
ity of  chamois  in  leaping  from  rock  to  rock,  and  went 
up  the  mountain  sides  with  a  bound  that  carried  them 
over  other  heights  when  they  stormed  the  walls  of  a  city. 

From  1749  to  1756  the  Black  "Watch  was  stationed  in 
Ireland,  and,  strange  to  say,  instead  of  being  an  army  of 
occupation  in  a  hostile  country,  lived  in  the  most  kindly 
relations  with  the  people,  proving  that  the  Scotch  and 
the  Irish  are  not  natural  enemies,  but  natural  friends. 

Then  came  a  long  period  of  service  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Atlantic.  For  eleven  years  the  regiment  was 
kept  in  the  West  Indies,  or  on  the  mainland,  where  it 
fought  beside  our  fathers  in  the  old  French  War.  The 
events  of  that  war  have  been  cast  into  the  shade  by 
those  of  the  Revolution,  but  these  ought  not  to  make  us 
forget  that  earlier  history,  in  which  there  were  deeds  of 
heroism  that  have  never  been  surpassed.  An  officer  who 
was  in  the  attack  on  Ticonderoga  says : 

"The  oldest  soldier  never  saw  so  furious  and  incessant  a  fire. 
Fontenoy  was  notliing  to  it.  I  saw  both.  We  labored  under  in- 
surmountable difficulties.  The  enemy's  breastwork  was  about 
nine  or  ten  feet  high,  upon  the  top  of  which  they  had  plenty  of 


DEAR   OLD  GIBRALTAR — THE   BLACK  WATCH  19 

wall-pieces  fixed,  and  which  was  well  lined  in  the  inside  with 
small  arms.  But  the  difficult  access  to  their  lines  was  what  gave 
them  a  fatal  advantage  over  us.  They  took  care  to  cut  down 
monstrous  large  oak  trees,  which  covered  all  the  ground  from 
the  foot  of  the  breastwork  about  the  distance  of  a  cannon-shot 
every  way  in  their  front.  This  not  only  broke  our  ranks,  and 
made  it  impossible  for  us  to  keep  our  order,  but  put  it  entirely 
out  of  our  power  to  advance  till  we  cut  our  way  through.  I  have 
seen  men  behave  with  courage  and  resolution  before  now,  but  so 
much  determined  bravery  can  hardly  be  equalled  in  any  part 
of  the  history  of  ancient  Rome.  Even  those  that  were  mortally 
wounded  cried  aloud  to  their  companions  not  to  mind  or  lose  a 
thought  upon  them,  but  to  follow  their  officers,  and  mind  the 
honor  of  their  country.  Nay,  their  ardor  was  such  that  it  was 
difficult  to  bring  them  off.  They  paid  dearly  for  tl)eir  intrepidity. 
The  remains  of  the  regiment  had  the  honor  to  cover  the  retreat  of 
the  army,  and  brought  off  the  wounded  as  we  did  at  Foutenoy. 
When  shall  we  have  so  fine  a  regiment  again  ?  " 

This  magnificent  courage  should  not  be  forgotten 
because  it  was  shown  in  the  backwoods  of  America. 
The  English  make  much — as  they  ought  to  make — of 
the  storming  of  Lucknow,  in  which,  by  the  way,  the 
Black  Watch  bore  a  conspicuous  part,  but  it  was  in  no 
such  dano:er  of  annihilation  as  at  Ticonderoffa.  How 
daring  was  the  assault  is  best  seen  by  the  losses  reported, 
which  tell  that  "  more  than  one  half  of  the  men  and 
twenty-five  officers  were  either  killed  or  desperately 
wounded."  The  exact  figures  are :  "  8  officers,  10  ser- 
geants, and  297  men  killed ;  and  17  officers,  10  ser- 
geants, and  306  soldiers  wounded."  It  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  find  anything  more  heroic  in  the  history  of 
war. 

In  July,  1767,  the  Black  Watch  embarked  at  Phila- 
delphia for  Ireland,  but  in  nine  years  were  back  again 
in  the  War  of  the  Kevolution,  and  took  part  in  the 


20  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

battle  on  Long  Island,  when  Washington  was  driven 
across  the  river,  and  followed  by  the  British  army  to 
White  Plains. 

Again  the  tartan  appears  under  Cornwallis  at  the 
Brandywine,  and  in  South  Carolina.  It  may  gratify 
our  national  pride  to  read  in  this  "  History  of  the  High- 
land Regiments,"  that  the  first  time  (and  the  last)  that 
these  dashing  Highlanders  ever  ran  before  an  enemy 
was  when,  by  the  rashness  of  Tarleton,  the  famous 
cavalry  leader,  they  were  thrown  into  the  very  centre 
of  the  fire  of  Morgan's  famous  riflemen,  from  which 
there  was  no  escape  but  in  instant  retreat. 

"With  the  war  ended  b_v  the  acknowledgment  of  our 
independence,  the  Black  Watch  returned  to  England. 
But  their  country  was  not  to  enjoy  many  years  of  peace. 
With  the  breakinof  out  of  the  French  Revolution  beo;an 
a  succession  of  wars  that  lasted  till  the  fall  of  Napoleon. 
In  1809  the  regiment  was  in  Portugal,  and  formed  part 
of  the  army  of  Sir  John  Moore  in  his  famous  retreat  to 
Corunna,  and  fought  in  the  battle  in  which  he  fell. 
Three  years  later  it  was  in  Portugal  again,  under  Well- 
ington, whom  it  followed  through  the  whole  Peninsular 
War,  to  Salamanca,  Vittoria,  and  San  Sebastian,  till 
Marshal  Soult  was  driven  across  the  Pyrenees,  and  the 
French,  instead  of  conquering  other  countries,  had  to 
look  to  defending  their  own. 

On  the  return  of  Napoleon  from  Elba,  the  Black 
Watch  was  in  Brussels,  and  among  the  first  British 
troops  that  hastened  to  the  front  through  the  Forest  of 
Soignes,  where 

"  Ardennes  waved  above  them  her  green  leaves, 
Grieving,  if  aught  inanimate  e'er  grieves, 
Over  the  unretuming  brave." 


DEAR  OLD   GIBRALTAR — ^THE    BLACK  WATCH  21 

History  tells  how  they  marched  to  the  field  to  the 
sound  of  the  pibroch,  giving  the  first  blow  at  Quatre 
Bras,  Avhere  they  struck  the  wing  of  the  French  army 
under  Marshal  'Ney  so  hard  as  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 
great  event  of  two  days  later,  the  victory  of  Waterloo. 

And  now  Europe  had  rest  for  forty  years  save  one, 
when  came  the  war  in  the  Crimea,  in  which  the  Black 
"Watch  won  new  distinction  under  Sir  Colin  Campbell  at 
the  Alma,  and  in  the  long  siege  of  Sebastopol. 

Hardly  bad  they  returned  from  the  Crimea  when 
they  were  ordered  to  India,  to  aid  in  putting  down  the 
mutiny  which  threatened  the  Indian  Empire;  and,  under 
the  same  gallant  leader,  went  up  country  by  forced 
marches,  to  the  relief  of  Cawnpore,  and  took  part  in  the 
storming  of  Lucknow. 

In  1873  the  Black  Watch  appears  on  the  Gold  Coast 
of  Africa,  in  the  Ashantee  war,  where,  instead  of  fight- 
ing on  open  plains,  they  had  to  cut  their  way  through 
the  jungle  and  the  forest.  How  they  went  through 
these  new  obstacles,  no  one  has  told  in  more  glowing 
terms  than  Henry  M.  Stanley,  who  accompanied  the 
expedition  as  correspondent  of  the  JSTew  York  Herald, 
and  wrote  home  to  America :  "  ]^othing  could  surpass 
the  gallantry  of  the  Black  Watch.  They  moved  along 
the  well  ambushed  road  as  if  on  parade,  by  twos,  firing 
by  companies,  '  front  rank  to  the  right,  rear  rank  to 
the  left ' ;  and  thus,  vomiting  out  two  score  of  bullets 
to  the  right  and  two  score  to  the  left,  the  companies 
'  volleyed  and  thundered,'  as  they  passed  by  the  ambus- 
cades, the  bagpipes  playing,  and  cheers  rising  from  the 
throats  of  the  lusty  Scots  until  the  forest  rang  again. 
Many  Avere  borne  back  frightfully  wounded  and  disfig- 
ured; but  the  regiment  never  halted  nor  wavered,  until 


22  THE  BARBAEY   COAST 

the  Ashantees,  seeing  it  was  useless  to  fight  against  men 
who  would  advance  heedless  of  ambuscades,  rose  from 
their  coverts,  and  fled,  panic-stricken,  towards  Coomas- 
sie." 

Nine  years  later,  in  the  autumn  of  1882,  the  Black 
Watch  appeared  in  another  part  of  Africa — in  Egypt, 
where  they  fought  in  the  battle  of  Tel-el  Kebir,  which 
destroyed  at  one  blow  the  rebellion  under  Arab!  Pasha, 
and  reestablished  order  under  the  Khedive.  Two  years 
afterward  the  regiment  formed  part  of  the  expedition 
up  the  Nile  for  the  relief  of  Khartoum  and  the  rescue  of 
Gordon.  The  expedition  came  too  late,  but  not  until 
the  Highlanders  had  given  further  proofs  of  their  valor 
at  Kirbekan,  and  in  other  engagements  in  which  they 
lost  many  brave  men  and  officers,  whose  bones  are  now 
mingled  with  the  sands  of  the  desert. 

AVhat  a  long  record  of  service  and  of  glory  in  every 
part  of  the  world  !  But  the  noblest  thing  in  the  history 
of  the  Black  Watch  is  not  its  courage,  splendid  as  that 
was,  but  that  it  was  not  brutalized  by  war,  nor  its  victo- 
ries stained  by  cruelty.  These  gallant  Highlanders  did 
not  think  that  one  need  be  less  a  man  because  he  was  a 
soldier.  Nor  did  they  find  it  necessary  to  brace  up  their 
courage  by  drunkenness  or  by  oaths.  Falstafif's  regiment 
"swore  horribly  in  Flanders,"  and  gave  the  Flemings 
lessons  in  beastly  intoxication ;  but  when  it  came  to  the 
Black  Watch  to  be  encamped  in  the  same  country  and 
among  the  same  people,  it  is  recorded  of  them  that 
"seldom  were  any  of  them  drunk,  and  they  rarely 
swore."  Instead  of  being  tumultuous,  as  soldiers  are  apt 
to  be,  they  were  so  quiet  and  so  orderly  that  the  people 
of  the  towns  petitioned  to  have  this  regiment  quartered 
amongst  them  for  their  own  protection,  feeling  that  they 


DEAR   OLD   GIBRALTAR — THE  BLACK  WATCH  23 

were  more  safe  and  their  property  more  secure  so  long  as 
these  brave  Scots  kept  guard  over  them.  The  Elector- 
Palatine  wrote  to  his  envoy  in  London  to  thank  the  king 
for  their  behavior,  for  whose  sake,  he  added,  "  I  shall 
always  in  the  future  pay  respect  to  a  Scotchman." 

Nor  did  the  profession  of  arms  destroy  the  tenderness 
of  nature  in  their  rugged  breasts.  When  the  Black 
"Watch  were  in  Germany,  it  is  related  of  them  that  they 
made  themselves  so  much  at  home  among  the  country 
folk,  that  often  a  stalwart  Highlander  might  be  seen  at  a 
cottage  door,  playing  with  the  children  and  taking  them 
on  his  knees,  perhaps  thinking  the  while  of  his  own 
"  bairns "  in  the  humble  cottage  in  one  of  the  glens  of 
Scotland. 

Happy  was  I  to  read  the  story  of  such  brave  men,  and 
happier  still  am  I  to  tell  the  tale  to  my  countrymen  in 
America. 

Nor  is  my  admiration  qualified  in  the  slightest  degree 
by  the  fact,  that  in  the  War  of  Independence  the  Black 
Watch  were  a  part  of  the  troops  sent  across  the  sea  to 
maintain  the  authority  of  England  in  her  colonies.  A 
soldier  has  not  to  choose  the  service  to  which  he  shall  be 
ordered : 

"  Not  his  to  ask  the  reason  why." 

m 

If  the  Scots  fought  against  us  in  the  Revolution, 
they  fought  for  us  in  the  old  French  War.  Hundreds 
of  the  Black  Watch  fell  at  the  siege  of  Ticonderoga, 
where  their  bones  are  mingled  with  those  of  our  own 
heroic  dead,  and  the  beautiful  lake  that  ripples  along 
that  shore  syllables  the  names  of  our  Scotch  defend- 
ers along  with  those  of  the  men  of  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut.     Even  were  it  not  so,  who  can  stand  but 


24  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

with  uncovered  head  beside  a  soldier's  grave  ?  In  the 
grave  all  enmities  are  buried ;  we  remember  only  the 
courage  and  the  devotion.  Eegret  as  we  may  the  stern 
necessities  of  war,  we  can  but  admit  that  war  brings  out 
in  splendid  relief  some  of  the  noblest  qualities  of  our 
nature — courage,  patience,  fidelity,  self-sacrifice — quali- 
ties without  which  the  human  race  and  human  history 
were  poor  indeed.  The  traditions  of  brave  deeds  and 
brave  men  are  the  common  inheritance  of  all  lands  and 
all  ages.  I  en\y  not  the  man  who  can  read  unmoved 
the  story  of  the  Black  Watch  charging  up  the  heights 
of  the  Alma,  or  marching  with  quick  step  while  the  bag- 
pipes were  playing  "  The  Campbells  are  coming  "  to  the 
relief  of  Lucknow. 


CHAPTEK  III 

CAEEYING    THE    WAE    INTO    AFEICA 

This  second  visit  to  Gibraltar  renewed  the  fascination 
of  the  first.  Though  one  be  not  admitted  to  her  inner 
defences,  there  is  enough  in  the  picturesqueness  of  the 
old  Kock,  with  the  history  of  the  wars,  battles,  sieges, 
through  which  it  has  passed,  to  make  it  one  of  the  most 
interesting  spots  on  the  globe.  It  is  worth  a  visit,  if  it 
were  only  to  walk  along  the  ramparts  to  the  King's 
Bastion,  where  Eliott  took  his  stand  on  the  decisive  day 
of  the  great  siege ;  and  to  climb  "Windmill  Hill,  where 
one  stops  at  every  turn  to  look  down  on  the  fortifications 
at  his  feet,  and  off  upon  the  sea,  and  across  to  Africa, 
which  beckons  him  from  the  other  side. 

That  other  side  is  the  natural  sequel  to  Gibraltar, 
and  so,  when  I  had  been  round  and  round,  and  paid  my 
reverence  to  the  dear  old  place,  I  sailed  away,  though 
still  looking  back  with  tender  regret.  But  in  crossing 
the  Straits  one  needs  to  consult  the  barometer,  for  the 
Mediterranean  is  a  treacherous  sea.  When  the  mighty 
Atlantic  comes  rolling  in,  the  place  of  meeting  of  the 
waters  "  boils  like  a  pot,"  and  is  as  rough  as  the  English 
Channel. 

As  in  crossing  we  turned  not  only  south,  but  west,  the 
afternoon  sun  was  shining  in  our  faces  as  we  approached 
the  African  coast,  so  that  we  did  not  see  Tangier  till  it 
burst  upon  us  as  a  vision  of  beauty,  its  white  walls  rising 
from  the  sea,  and  culminating  in  the  Kasbah,  which  is  at 


26  THE  BABBARY   COAST 

once  the  palace  and  the  citadel,  as  it  is  mounted  with 
guns,  and  encloses  within  it  the  residence  of  the  Bashaw, 
who,  as  the  representative  of  the  Sultan  of  Morocco,  is 
the  governor  of  the  city. 

As  the  steamer  anchored  off  shore,  the  boats  came  off 
for  passengers,  among  which  I  observed  one  that  bore 
the  United  States  flag,  and  as  it  came  under  our  stern, 
heard  a  voice  calling  my  name,  and  the  Consul's  men 
sprang  on  board,  seized  my  belongings,  and  transferred 
them  to  the  boat,  and  away  we  flew  like  the  wind. 

At  the  pier  was  another  crowd  that  would  have  laid 
hands  upon  me  had  I  been  unattended ;  but  when  the 
American  representative  walked  up  the  stone  steps,  all 
fell  back  and  made  a  passage,  with  not  even  a  word, 
only  an  admiring  gaze.  It  is  not  often  that  I  am 
invested  with  such  importance,  though  it  be  only  by 
courtesy ;  and  I  appreciated  the  silent  homage  of  these 
Africans,  who  thought  I  was  somebody,  and  it  may  be 
Avell  that  I  shall  not  remain  lonof  enouo:h  for  them  to  be 
undeceived. 

Though  it  takes  but  three  hours  to  come  from  Gib- 
raltar to  Tangier,  in  that  brief  passage  one  is  transported 
into  a  new  world.  It  is  not  only  the  difference  in  the 
two  places,  but  the  people  themselves  are  different — in 
figure,  in  color,  in  language,  and  in  everything  that 
belongs  to  humanity — so  that  at  first  it  seems  as  if  they 
were  hardly  of  the  same  human  race. 

In  passing  through  the  gates  into  the  city,  we  have 
another  surprise  in  finding  no  carriage  to  take  us  to  a 
hotel.  But  if  any  prince  or  potentate  were  to  enter 
under  this  archway,  expecting  to  make  a  royal  progress 
through  the  streets,  he  would  be  disappointed  ;  for  there 
is  not  even  a  baby-carriage  in  all  Tangier,  nor  a  wheeled 


CAERYING  THE   WAR   INTO  AFRICA  27 

vehicle  of  any  kind.  There  are  no  broad  highways  for 
chariots,  while  some  of  the  by-ways  are  too  narrow  for  a 
dog-cart.  Wherever  you  go,  you  must  take  your  chance 
in  the  street  with  horses  and  donkeys  and  camels.  A 
loaded  camel  that  comes  swinging  along  will  soon  clear 
a  passage ;  at  least,  it  is  prudent  to  get  out  of  the  way. 
The  more  common  beasts  of  burden  are  the  little  donkeys, 
with  panniers  on  their  backs ;  and  a  donkey  always  has 
the  right  of  way.  Americans  will  observe  the  beautiful 
democracy  of  this  Moorish  city,  in  which  not  only  are  all 
men  free  and  equal,  but  all  men  and  beasts  are  on  a  level 
of  perfect  equality.  A  donkey  may  not  be  a  voter,  but 
he  has  the  freedom  of  the  city  by  right  of  his  heels.  He 
is  as  free  and  independent  as  any  of  our  newly  imported 
citizens.  He  is  no  respecter  of  pei-sons,  and  would  kick 
a  prince  as  soon  as  a  beggar. 

All  this  would  be  amusing  if  the  streets  were  not 
so  abominably  filthy.  Artists  may  think  that  dirt  is 
always  picturesque,  as  in  the  "  Spanish  Beggars "  of 
Murillo.  But  this  is  not  picturesque ;  it  is  simply  dirt. 
The  pavements  are  mere  cobblestones  stuck  in  the  mud, 
Avith  hardly  an  attempt  to  make  a  smooth  surface.  It 
is  not  an  extreme  presumption  that  the  stones  lie  as  they 
were  placed  by  the  hands  of  the  Moors  when  they  were 
driven  out  of  Spain,  and  on  these  stones  are  dumped  all 
sorts  of  rubbish,  till  it  seems  as  if  only  a  tidal  wave 
breaking  over  these  sliores  could  wash  the  city  clean. 

And  so  we  get  a  double  impression  of  quaint  old 
Tangier,  as  we  view  it  from  without  or  from  within. 
It  is  a  city  of  contrasts  and  contradictions,  that  answers 
to  the  fable  of  "  Beauty  and  the  Beast."  On  the  outside 
it  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  cities :  within  it  is  the 
vilest ;  and  the  transition  from  one  to  the  other  gives  me 


28  THE  BARBABY   COAST 

4 

such  a  shock  that  I  am  ahnost  tempted  to  say  that  the 
shining  walls  which  glitter  in  the  sun  are  but  a  whited 
sepulchre,  full  of  dead  men's  bones  and  all  uncleanness. 

And  yet  there  is  a  beauty  of  nature  which  man  cannot 
destroy.  There  is  always  a  charm  in  a  combination  of 
mountains  and  the  sea,  as  in  the  Bay  of  ISTaples,  or  along 
the  Riviera,  where  one  sits  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Maritime  Alps,  and  looks  off  upon  the  Mediterranean. 
The  same  combination  gives  to  Tangier  the  beauty  of 
Amalfi  or  Sorrento. 

There  is  another  attraction  which  makes  it  beloved  of 
artists — a  peculiar  atmosphere,  that  takes  all  glare  out 
of  the  African  sun ;  in  which  a  brightness  that  would 
otherwise  be  too  intense  is  softened  by  a  light  mist  rising 
from  the  sea,  which  draws  a  fleecy  veil  over  the  sky, 
through  which  the  sunlio:ht  comes  in  all  the  colors  of 
the  rainbow,  but  fainter  and  fainter,  as  they  are  tem- 
pered and  subdued  to  the  most  delicate  tints  that  ever 
ravished  an  artist's  soul.  For  this  Henri  Regnault  pre- 
ferred Tangier  even  to  Egypt,  since  he  found  here  skies 
as  brilliant  as  in  the  gorgeous  East,  to  which  this  atmos- 
phere gave  an  inexpressible  beauty ;  and  he  chose  it  as 
the  favored  spot  where  he  would  make  his  sketches  and 
put  in  his  colors,  rather  than  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile. 

One  thing  more  only  is  needed  to  complete  the  attrac- 
tions of  Tangier — its  climate,  which  is  said  to  have  the 
double  value  of  beinof  alike  ofood  for  all  seasons.  We  are 
apt  to  think  of  Africa  as  a  country  of  such  burning  heat 
that  it  can  hardly  be  endured  except  in  winter.  But 
Tangier  is  in  the  extreme  north  of  the  continent,  and 
has  the  sea  on  two  sides — the  Mediterranean  on  the 
north,  and  the  Atlantic  on  the  west — so  that  the  air  is 
always  kept  stirring  by  a  breeze  from  one  or  the  other  ; 


CARRYING  THE   WAR   INTO  AFRICA  29 

while  the  sirocco,  which  might  come  from  the  desert,  is 
Avarded  off  by  the  Atlas  Mountains.  Thus  protected  by 
heaven  from  the  folly  and  negligence  of  man,  Tangier, 
with  all  its  filth,  is  a  very  healthy  city,  the  rate  of  mor. 
tality  being  less  than  in  many  of  the  European  capitals 
with  the  best  sanitary  arrangements.  My  own  experi- 
ence is  too  slight  for  me  to  give  an  opinion,  but  I  find 
here  two  American  ladies  of  a  well-known  family  in  New 
York,  Avho  have  lived  abroad  for  twenty  years,  trying 
all  countries  and  all  climates,  and  have  finally  settled 
upon  Tangier,  as  having  a  temperature  so  uniform,  with 
such  freedom  from  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  that 
they  can  live  here  all  the  year  round  without  going 
off  to  w^atering-places  to  brace  up  their  languid  frames. 
They  have  bought  a  site  on  one  of  the  beautiful  hills  in 
the  environs,  where  they  can  have  a  garden  in  w^hich 
will  grow  all  the  semi-tropical  plants  and  flowers ;  and 
have  built  a  house  in  which,  with  books  and  pictures, 
they  can  pass  a  life  of  lettered  ease,  never  pining  for  the 
great  world,  but  too  happy  to  be  "  far  from  the  madding 
crowd ; "  and  where,  with  glimpses  of  friends  who  come 
and  go,  they  can  look  out  upon  the  mountains  and  the 
sea,  and  pass  their  days  in  quietness  and  peace. 

Is  not  this  the  very  place  that  I  have  desired  for  a 
few  weeks'  rest  ?  Here  I  am  settled,  outside  of  the  walls, 
in  a  hotel  that  bears  the  pleasant  name  of  "Villa  de 
France.  It  stands  on  the  top  of  a  hill  which  commands 
a  view  of  both  the  city  and  the  bay ;  and  as  my  room  is 
on  a  corner,  with  windows  opening  on  both  sides,  I  can 
see  in  different  directions.  To  the  south  I  look  down  on 
Tangier,  with  its  mosques  and  towers,  while  eastward  I 
look  across  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  to  the  Rock  itself, 
taking  in  a  long  line  of  the  coast  of  Spain,  with  the 


30  THE  BARBARY  COAST 

mountains  of  Andalusia.  This  beautiful  spot  is  the  first 
on  which  I  pitch  my  tent  in  my  African  journey. 

"  But  apart  from  the  scenery  and  the  climate,  and  the 
quaintness  and  picturesqueness  of  the  place,  is  there  much 
to  interest  a  stranger  ? "  Yes ;  a  great  deal.  There  is 
always  an  interest  in  studying  new  races  of  men  in 
whom  we  are  all  the  while  finding  touches  of  a  nature 
like  our  own — touches  that  make  the  whole  world  kin. 
And  there  is  more  interest  in  the  living  present  than  in 
the  dead  past.  "  A  living  dog  is  better  than  a  dead 
lion."  A  living  Moor  is  better  than  a  dead  Egyptian. 
I  like  to  wander  about  the  streets  of  a  strange  city ;  to 
look  into  the  faces  of  the  people ;  to  see  what  manner  of 
men  they  are ;  to  what  tribe  of  the  human  family  they 
belong ;  their  figure,  color,  and  complexion,  whether  they 
be  white,  or  black,  or  red ;  to  see  how  they  carry  them- 
selves; how  they  stand  and  walk;  how  they  sit  down 
and  rise  up,  especially  when  they  sit,  as  they  do  here, 
on  their  heels. 

The  best  place  in  Tangier  to  see  all  this  is  right  under 
my  window,  in  the  famous  Soko,  or  market-place,  to 
which  the  people  of  all  the  country  round  come  on  the 
market  days  of  the  week,  Wednesday  and  Sunday,  for 
what  we  in  America  would  call  a  cattle  show,  though 
it  is  certainly  not  an  exhibition  of  prize  cattle.  To  walk 
through  the  crowd  you  would  think  you  had  stumbled 
upon  a  camp  of  gypsies,  as  you  see  them  wrapt  in  their 
miserable  garments,  all  tattered  and  torn,  trying  to  pull 
their  rags  over  them  to  hide  their  nakedness ;  and  when 
they  lie  stretched  on  the  ground,  or  crouching  under 
their  little  black  tents,  it  is  a  scene  of  poverty  and 
misery  that  is  pitiful  to  behold. 

And  yet  the  Soko  is  a  place  of  business  where  a  great 


CARRYING  THE  WAR    INTO  AFRICA  31 

deal  of  money  changes  hands  in  the  course  of  the  day. 
Moving  about  in  this  very  miscellaneous  crowd  are  men 
who  have  an  air  of  bustle  and  business.  They  are  the 
cattlemen  from  the  country,  who  have  their  flocks  and 
herds,  and  who  have  come,  some  of  them,  from  a  distance 
of  two  or  three  days'  journey,  riding  on  horses  or  camels, 
driving  their  sheep  or  cattle  before  them  to  market. 
Here,  in  the  Soko,  they  find  the  purchasers,  to  whom  they 
dispose  of  what  they  bring,  and  depart  with  money  in 
their  purses ;  while  the  cattle  that  have  fed  on  a  thou- 
sand hills  supply  the  place  of  the  roast  beef  of  Old 
England,  in  feeding  the  garrison  of  Gibraltar. 


CHAPTER  IV 

TAKING    MINE   EASE    IN    MOEOCCO 

All  is  not  dark,  even  in  Africa.  Even  the  poor  have 
their  pleasures.  A  clay  or  two  since,  walking  across  the 
Soko,  I  came  upon  a  little  company  of  Moorish  musi- 
cians, sitting  on  the  ground,  making  a  horrible  din,  that 
was  enough  to  stampede  a  camel,  but  which  so  wrought 
upon  the  sensibilities  of  a  poor  old  creature  (whose 
tattered  garments  were  dropping  from  his  back,  and 
who  seemed  to  have  one  foot  in  the  grave  and  the  other 
sliding  in),  that  he  sprang  up  and  began  to  swing  him- 
self about  like  a  whirling  dervish.  The  music  (!)  had 
literally  "  created  a  soul  under  the  ribs  of  death."  The 
incident,  trifling  as  it  was,  showed  me  that  this  poor 
people,  miserable  as  they  are,  are  ready  to  be  merry  and 
gay  on  the  slightest  provocation. 

The  foreign  residents  are  not  so  lightly  moved.  It  is 
hundreds  of  years  since  Froissart  wrote  that  "  the  Eng- 
lish take  their  pleasures  seriously ; "  he  might  almost 
have  said  solemnly,  for  when  they  do  go  about  it,  they 
undertake  it  as  if  it  were  the  one  business  of  life.  Eng- 
lish officers  find  the  round  of  garrison  duty  very  tedious, 
and  are  glad  of  anything  to  relieve  the  w^earisome 
monotony.  In  a  fortress  like  Gibraltar  the  range  of 
pleasures  is  very  limited,  and  men  whose  veins  are  full 
of  hot  blood  must  break  loose  somehow.  They  cannot 
fight  a  battle  every  day ;  but  they  can  at  least  mount 
their  horses,  and  dash  off  into  the  country  at  full  speed, 


I 


TAKING  MINE  EASE  IN  MOROCCO  33 

as  if  they  were  leading  a  charge  of  cavalry.  And  if 
there  comes  a  holiday,  when  there  can  be  a  mingling  of 
fair  women  with  brave  men,  the  scene  rises  to  its  highest 
point  of  joyous  hilarity. 

An  illustration  of  this  it  was  my  fortune  to  see.  We 
arrived  in  Gibraltar  in  the  last  days  of  the  carnival, 
when  the  fun  waxed  fast  and  furious  in  anticipation  of 
the  coming  of  Lent,  which  would  shut  down  like  a  pall 
on  all  life  and  gayet}^  As  it  is  the  fashion  in  all  Catho- 
lic countries  to  make  the  most  of  these  last  days,  they 
quicken  the  pace  as  the  moments  fly.  On  the  Mardi 
Gras,  the  Tuesday  before  Ash  "Wednesday,  the  streets 
were  thronged,  like  the  Corso  in  Rome,  with  a  good- 
natured  crowd,  that  took  all  sorts  of  liberties  with  those 
Avho  rode  about  in  carriages,  pelting  them  with  bits  of 
colored  paper,  and  giving  way  to  every  extravagance  of 
folly.  Nor  were  the  people  of  fashion  any  better,  for 
they,  too,  made  the  most  of  the  opportunity,  and  danced 
till  midnight;  and  then,  as  the  clock  tolled  the  hour, 
fell  on  their  knees,  in  token  that  the  season  of  pleasure 
was  past,  and  the  season  of  prayer  and  penance  begun-. 

The  officers  of  the  garrison  took  their  pleasure,  as 
became  true  Englishmen,  in  an  English  way,  in  a  fox 
hunt.  In  the  morning  they  might  be  seen  trooping 
toward  the  gates,  in  many  cases  accompanied  by  their 
wives  and  daughters — for  these  English  women  are 
famous  riders — and,  crossing  the  K^eutral  Ground,  the 
hounds  were  let  loose,  whereupon  they  quickened  their 
pace  to  a  trot,  and  then  to  a  run ;  and  with  rush  and 
dash,  and  shouts  and  laughter,  sped  away,  to  the  music 
of  hounds  and  horn,  over  the  hills  of  Spain. 

Who  would  not  join  in  this  gathering  of  the  fair  and 
the  brave  ?  My  friend,  Richard  Harding  Davis,  went 
3 


84  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

out  with  the  riders,  and  when  he  came  back,  as  I  met  him 
in  his  riding  boots  and  spurs,  he  looked  like  ai-cavalry 
ofHcer.  I,  too,  had  received  the  honor  of  an  invitation; 
for  it  was  intimated  to  me,  as  to  him,  that  if  I  cared 
to  join  this  gallant  company,  I  should  be  heartily  wel- 
come as  an  American  guest.  Alas,  that  I  could  not 
support  the  honor  of  my  country !  I  had  to  answer  that 
my  galloping  days  Avere  over.  The  fact  is,  that  my 
camel-riding  on  the  desert  has  spoiled  me  for  anything 
less  romantic ;  and  I  qualified  my  refusal  by  saying  that 
I  would  join  in  the  general  rout  if  they  would  bring  me 
a  stead}"^  old  camel,  mounted  on  which,  like  a  venerable 
and  long-bearded  sheik,  I  would  bring  up  the  rear. 

Here  ended  the  first  lesson.  But  I  did  not  escape 
temptation  by  crossing  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar.  Indeed, 
I  may  say  that  I  ran  into  it,  for  the  very  reason  that 
Tansrier  has  less  communication  with  the  outside  world, 
and  fewer  resources  for  entertainment.  There  is  no 
turnout  of  cari'iages  to  drive  to  Hyde  Park  or  the  Bois 
de  Boulogne,  nor  even  a  drive  like  that  to  Europa  Point 
and  back  again,  which  gives  the  gay  world  a  chance  to 
look  in  each  other's  faces ;  for  there  is  not  even  a  "  one- 
hoss-shay "  in  all  Tangier,  or,  for  that  matter,  in  all 
Morocco,  Hence  everybody  lives  and  moves,  particularly 
moves  on  horseback.  At  our  hotel  are  some  English 
officers  returned  from  India  ;  and  the  talk  of  every  dinner 
is  the  morning  and  afternoon  ride,  or,  more  exciting 
still,  of  some  grand  sport  in  the  African  forest. 

Such  is  the  prospect  that  we  have  before  us,  when  for 
a  week  all  Tangier  is  to  be  turned  upside  down  to  engage 
in  a  boar  hunt.  The  country  round  is  full  of  wild  boars, 
some  of  which  are  very  large  and  very  fierce,  so  that  to 
hunt  them,  if  not  as  dangerous  as  to  hunt  the  tiger,  is  by 


TAKING  MINE  EASE  IN   MOROCCO  36 

no  means  child's  play  ;  for  when  an  old  boar  is  driven  to 
bay  and  turns  upon  his  pursuers,  rushing  at  them  with 
his  long  tusks,  he  who  is  in  front  must  be  ready  for  the 
attack,  or  he  cannot  be  too  quick  in  getting  out  of  the 
way.  It  is  this  spice  of  danger  which  gives  to  a  boar 
hunt  a  degree  of  excitement  that  stirs  the  blood  of  an 
Englishman  as  a  bull  fight  stirs  the  blood  of  a  Spaniard. 

To  gratify  this  natural  passion,  some  thirty  gentlemen 
of  Tangier,  representing  all  the  foreign  legations,  are 
going  into  the  country,  provided  with  tents,  to  make  a 
regular  encampment,  and  remain  five  days.  They  will 
be  attended  by  a  hundred  Moors  as  camp-followers,  some 
to  pitch  the  tents  and  attend  to  the  commissariat,  while 
the  others  serve  as  beaters,  to  scour  the  woods  and  rouse 
up  the  noble  game,  and  drive  them  toward  the  place 
where  the  hunters  are  waiting,  mounted  for  the  chase. 

Such  was  the  picture  that  was  set  before  me,  and  how 
could  a  stranger  listen  unmoved  to  an  invitation  to  join 
in  a  favorite  pastime  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  other 
illustrious  patrons  of  the  chase?  I  confess  that  the  royal 
character  of  this  peculiar  form  of  amusement  was  a  little 
taken  out  of  it  by  a  mere  change  of  name  from  boar 
hunt  to  "  pig-sticking,"  which  describes  more  exactly 
what  it  is,  for  in  the  combat  the  assailants  are  confined 
to  the  use  of  the  spear.  No  guns  are  allowed  in  camp, 
for  if,  as  soon  as  an  old  tusker  showed  his  head  through 
the  trees,  some  rifleman  were  to  draw  a  bead  on  him, 
and  drop  him,  the  sport  would  be  over  in  an  instant; 
whereas  the  excitement  is  all  in  the  chase,  when  thirty 
horsemen  set  off  on  a  run,  up  hill  and  down,  till  at  last 
the  monster  is  laid  low. 

Such  was  the  temptation  that  was  set  before  me,  to 
which  I  replied  that  I  would  take  it  into  respectful  con- 


86  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

sideration.  As  my  readers  are  entitled  to  a  full  detail 
of  my  thrilling  adventures  in  Africa,  it  would  be  fit- 
ting that,  when  I  ride  to  battle,  I  should  be  attended  by 
some  one  with  a  kodak,  who  should  take  a  snap-shot  at 
the  instant  that  my  spirited  steed  is  rearing  in  air,  Avhile 
the  rider  is  throwing  the  spear  that  is  to  lay  the  brute 
in  the  dust  at  his  feet.  This  would  make  a  companion 
piece  to  the  picture  of  St.  Michael  and  the  Dragon. 
As  I  have  often  been  requested  to  sit  for  my  photo- 
graph, this  is  the  attitude  in  which  I  prefer  to  go  down 
to  posterity. 

Well,  well,  well !  Is  there  really  nothing  but  a  fox 
chase  or  a  boar  hunt  to  offer  to  a  sober  old  traveller,  who 
in  all  this  hurly-burly  asks  for  nothing  but  to  be  let 
alone  ?  I  do  not  object  to  others  amusing  themselves 
after  their  fancy,  but  they  will  excuse  me  if  I  prefer  to 
sit  in  the  African  sunshine,  and  hold  quiet  converse  with 
the  mountains  and  the  sea. 

Happily  there  is  a  variety  sufficient  for  all  tastes,  and 
I  find  many  a  retreat  fit  for  a  philosopher.  Two  miles 
from  the  city  is  a  range  of  hills,  which  surround  it  like 
an  outer  wall,  on  the  brow  of  which  some  of  the  foreign 
ministers  and  consuls  have  their  countrj'^  places,  to  which 
they  retire  after  the  cares  of  the  day.  Here  lives  Colonel 
Felix  A.  Mathews,  who  has  been  the  American  Consul 
for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  here  he  delights  to 
show  hospitality  to  his  countrymen  at  his  house  on 
"  Mount  Washington."  As  there  is  no  way  to  get  about 
in  Tangier  but  on  horseback,  he  sent  me  a  horse,  with  a 
soldier  to  guide  me  to  the  place.  Being  by  nature  grave 
in  my  outward  carriage,  as  in  my  inward  mind,  I  had 
asked  for  a  steed  that  should  not  be  too  gay  ;  in  response 
to  which  I  found  before  my  door  a  venerable  creature, 


TAKING  MINE   EASE   IN   MOROCCO  87 

that  seemed  not  at  all  likely  to  betray  me  into  a  speed 
inconsistent  with  my  ministerial  dignity.  But  a  rider  on 
a  white  horse  is  always  a  picturesque  object  in  a  land- 
scape, and  when  I  mounted  and  rode  forth  with  slow 
and  solemn  pace,  I  thought  I  answered  somewhat  to  the 
picture  in  the  opening  line  of  the  Faery  Queen : 

"  A  gentle  Knight  came  pricking  o'er  the  plain." 

To  complete  my  knightly  appearance,  I  had  a  military 
attendant.  To  be  sure,  he  did  not  answer  to  my  idea  of 
a  man-at-arms,  with  gun  on  his  shoulder,  or  sword  at  his 
side.  To  confess  the  truth,  he  had  no  weapon  of  war 
of  any  kind ;  and  as  for  his  uniform,  it  consisted  only 
of  the  jelah^  an  overall  of  very  coarse  cloth,  which  is  the 
one  garment  which  answers  for  all  purposes  in  Morocco. 
It  covered  his  body,  but  his  head  and  legs  were  bare. 
But  the  absence  of  under  garments,  which  exposed  his 
naked  limbs,  did  not  detract  from  the  grace  of  his  per- 
son ;  for  as  the  jelab  hung  but  half  way  down  his  form, 
it  showed  a  lithe  and  sinewy  figure,  on  which  there  was 
not  an  ounce  of  superfluous  flesh,  so  that  he  not  only 
trotted  easily  by  my  side,  but  sometimes  was  so  full  of 
animal  spirits  that  he  bounded  away  before  me,  and  cut 
all  manner  of  capers  as  he  sprang  up  every  slope  of 
ground  that  rose  before  us  on  our  winding  way. 

In  half  an  hour  we  were  at  the  Consul's,  a  plain  house, 
but  made  beautiful  by  being  embowered  in  trees  of  his 
own  planting,  with  a  great  variety  from  different  coun- 
tries and  climes.  He  likes  to  unite  those  of  Africa  and 
America.  Having  come  from  Calil'ornia,  he  has  intro- 
duced here  the  Monterey  cypress,  which  flourishes  beside 
the  African  palm.  So  kindly  does  it  take  to  this  soil, 
that  it  has  been  introduced  on  other  places  in  the  neigh- 


38  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

borhood,  and  its  dark  foliage  forms  a  pleasing  feature 
along  the  roads. 

But  the  special  charm  of  the  day  was  the  good  com- 
pany gathered  at  the  hospitable  table — ladies  from  New 
York,  with  whom  I  could  talk  of  old  friends ;  a  physician 
from  Philadelphia ;  and  an  American  artist,  who  has  come 
here  to  take  the  picturesqueness  of  African  life,  with  the 
glory  of  the  African  sky.  Will  my  friends  at  home  think 
it  strange  if  I  confess  that  I  had  rather  spend  an  after- 
noon in  such  a  scene  and  in  such  company  than  to  spear 
all  the  wild  boars  in  Morocco? 

The  pleasure  was  repeated  a  few  days  after,  in  another 
excursion,  with  a  friend  to  whom  I  owe  much  of  the 
pleasure  of  my  visit  to  Tangier.  'No  one  here  is  better 
known  than  Mr.  Ion  Perdicaris,  who  has  lived  here 
twenty  years,  and  whose  house  in  the  city,  built  after 
his  own  design  (in  which  he  has  introduced  many  feat- 
ures of  Moorish  architecture),  is  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful that  I  have  ever  seen.  In  addition  to  this,  he  has 
another  house  on  the  same  range  of  hills  with  our  Con- 
sul, though  farther  round  the  bay.  Again  I  had  asked 
for  a  mount  of  proper  sobriety,  a  horse  whose  step  was 
slow  and  stately ;  but  that  variety  of  beast  is  limited  in 
this  Moslem  empire,  and,  instead,  he  brought  me  a  blooded 
Arabian,  that  was  a  gift  from  the  Sultan,  though  he  said 
it  was  the  most  quiet  creature  that  he  had  in  his  stables. 
I  mounted  with  some  apprehension ;  but  my  experience 
has  shown  that  neither  men  nor  horses  are  always  as 
fierce  as  they  are  painted,  and,  indeed,  I  could  not  have 
desired  a  more  gentle  creature.  He  did  not  try  to  play 
any  tricks  on  his  new  rider,  but  bore  me  so  gently  that 
I  really  forgot  that  he  had  not  been  brought  up  in  the 
most  strict  rules  of  obedience.     Thus  mounted,  trotting 


TAKING   MINE   EASE   IN   MOROCCO  39 

gently  along  the  road  and  up  the  hills,  with  the  best  of 
company,  what  more  could  heart  desire  ?  The  day  was 
perfect.  The  week  before  there  had  been  a  good  deal 
of  rain.  But  now  all  was  cleared  away,  and  only  a 
few  fleecy  clouds  were  floating  over  the  blue  sky. 
"  What  is  so  fair  as  a  day  in  June  ? "  asks  Lowell ;  to 
which  I  answer,  that  no  day  in  June  w^as  ever  fairer, 
brighter,  yet  softer  and  sweeter,  than  this  last  day  of 
winter. 

The  only  drawback  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  ride 
was  the  poverty  of  the  people  w^hora  we  met  along  the 
road.  The  men  were  poorly  clad,  often  in  rags ;  but  the 
hardest  lot  was  that  of  the  women  and  children,  grreat 
numbers  of  whom  were  tramping  through  the  mud  with 
bare  feet,  Avith  bundles  of  sticks  and  brush  upon  their 
backs  which  they  were  carrying  into  the  town  to  sell, 
for  which  they  would  receive  possibly  ten  cents,  though, 
I  was  told,  more  often  but  five.  This  was  their  com- 
pensation for  the  work  of  a  da}^.  Many  of  these  were 
girls  of  but  twelve  or  fourteen.  "What  wonder  that  at 
twenty  they  are  already  old,  or  that  sometimes  the}'^  are 
betrayed  by  wicked  men  into  sin  ?  Then  the  law  of  the 
Koran,  which  is  the  only  law  of  the  country,  shows  them 
no  mere}'.  She  who  once  goes  wrong  is  instantly  an  out- 
cast, to  be  driven  from  her  home,  to  be  beaten  or  killed. 
"  I  have  known,-'  said  Mr.  Perdicaris,  "  three  instances 
in  which  girls  have  been  killed  by  members  of  their  own 
family,  because  of  such  disgrace.  One  day  I  heard  a 
shot  near  my  house,  and  inquiring  into  it,  I  found  that, 
on  suspicion  of  this,  a  young  Moor  had  shot  his  own 
sister.  There  was  some  pretence  of  calling  him  to 
account  for  it,  but  as  it  was  said  that  he  was  the  only 
son  of  his  mother,  and  that  she  was  dependent  on  him 


40  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

for  support,  that  was  quite  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  Moor- 
ish authorities." 

Those  writers  who  make  elaborate  defences  of  the 
rehgion  of  Islam,  should  tell  us  why  it  has  no  mercy  on 
the  erring.  iSTor  does  it  make  any  provision  for  the 
insane.  As  we  were  riding  by  a  little  village  of  low- 
thatched  cottages,  Mr.  Perdicaris  said  :  "  A  man  from 
this  village  was  in  my  employ,  and  a  good,  faithful 
fellow  he  was.  But  suddenly  he  was  taken  insane. 
What  could  be  done  with  him?  He  needed  to  be  re- 
moved at  once  to  some  place  Avhere  he  could  receive 
medical  treatment,  or  at  least  the  common  offices  of 
humanity.  But  such  a  place  does  not  exist.  There  is 
not  an  asylum  or  a  hospital  in  the  whole  empire  of 
Morocco  ;  and  the  poor  maniac  had  to  be  left  in  his 
miserable  hut,  where  he  was  chained  like  a  wild  beast." 

While  thus  talking,  we  were  climbing  up  higher  and 
higher,  and  the  view  beneath  us  was  spreading  out  Avider 
and  wider.  I  wanted  to  stop  at  every  turn  to  take  in 
the  full  glory  of  the  scene.  After  mounting  to  the  top, 
and  riding  along  the  summit  for  a  mile,  we  descended 
toward  the  sea  till,  on  a  shelf  of  land  sufficiently  below 
the  height  to  be  sheltered  from  the  east  winds,  and  yet 
hundreds  of  feet  above  the  waves,  we  came  to  Idonia, 
which  signifies  the  place  of  the  nightingales,  fit  name  for 
one  of  the  most  delightful  retreats  in  which  a  man  ever 
sought  shelter  from  the  cares  of  the  outer  world. 

As  with  his  house  in  town,  Mr.  Perdicaris  designed 
this  for  himself,  and  laid  out  the  grounds,  which  gives 
the  place  a  character  quite  unique.  Here,  sitting  on  his 
veranda,  he  has  the  whole  extent  of  the  Straits  of  Gib- 
raltar under  his  eye.  To  the  east  he  can  see  the  Rock 
itself,  and,  when  the  wind  is  favorable,  hear  the  morning 


TAKING   MINE   EASE   IN   MOROCCO  41 

and  the  evening  gun.  Nearer  still  is  Tarifa,  at  the  very 
mouth  of  the  straits  ;  while  a  little  farther  up  the  Span- 
ish coast,  but  in  full  view,  is  Cape  Trafalgar,  off  which 
the  gi'eat  battle  was  fought.  "  When  I  first  came  here," 
he  said,  "there  was  an  old  Moor  who  remembered  dis- 
tinctly seeing,  as  he  described  it,  a  hundred  ships,  and 
seeing  the  smoke  of  the  battle  and  hearing  the  thunder 
of  the  guns  all  day  long."  With  such  views  and  such 
memories  beguiling  the  hours,  we  lingered  and  lingered, 
taking  our  luncheon  under  the  orange  trees ;  and  then, 
enchanted  with  all  the  beauty  of  the  day,  rode  slowly 
over  the  hills,  and  back  to  the  city. 

So  captivated  was  I  with  this  excursion  that  I  was  not 
content  to  leave  Tangier  till  I  might  have  it  repeated, 
and  extended  still  farther  to  the  most  picturesque  spot 
in  all  its  environs.  Cape  Spartel,  where  the  light-house 
looks  dow^n  at  once  on  the  sea  and  the  ocean — the 
Mediterranean  and  the  Atlantic.  Colonel  Mathews, 
eager  as  ever  to  contribute  to  the  pleasure  of  his  country- 
men, offered  to  be  my  guide  and  companion.  It  wjfs  a 
beautiful  morning  when  we  started  from  his  house  and 
rode  through  the  lanes  that  wind  hither  and  thither,  in  a 
gradual  ascent,  till  we  emerged  on  the  upland,  where  the 
high,  rolling  country,  with  its  wealth  of  heather  in  blos- 
som, reminded  me  of  the  moors  of  Scotland.  For  several 
miles  we  followed  the  same  route  that  we  had  taken  in 
the  ride  to  Idonia,  from  which  we  continued  five  or  six 
miles  farther.  Now,  as  then,  the  sky  was  without  a 
cloud,  and  the  atmosphere  so  clear  that  we  heard  dis- 
tinctly the  guns  of  Gibraltar,  though  it  was  more  than 
thirty  miles  away. 

But  the  mountains !  the  mountains !  The  horizon  was 
so  full  of  them  that  there  was  no  counting  them  any 


42  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

more  than  counting  the  waves  of  the  sea.  And  what  set 
them  in  still  grander  relief,  their  sides  sloped  down  into 
deep  valleys,  where,  though  the  winter  was  but  just 
past,  the  African  sun  lay  so  warm  that  the  wheat  and 
barley  were  already  springing  up,  and  the  landscape  was 
in  its  freshest  green. 

As  we  rode  on  over  the  hills,  the  scene  grew  more  rug- 
ged from  the  masses  of  rock  scattered  here  and  there. 
Some  of  these  had  apparently  been  splintered  by  light- 
ning, but  still  held  up  their  broken  shafts  to  the  tempest. 
The  only  thing  wanting  was  trees ;  but  I  suppose  that 
nothing  can  withstand  the  storms  that  break  over  the 
coast.  At  least,  I  saw  not  a  single  great  trunk  on  the 
crest  of  the  hills.  And  yet  it  is  not  a  rocky  desolation, 
for  even  the  rocks  are  so  far  buried  in  masses  of  heather 
or  low  underbrush,  that  they  do  not  stand  up  in  utter 
nakedness.  And  what  is  more  remarkable,  though  the 
surface  is  so  stony,  the  soil  is  admirably  adapted  to  the 
vine,  and  nothing  but  cultivation  is  needed  to  cover  all 
these  slopes  with  vine3'ards  as  rich  and  fruitful  as  those 
along  the  Rhone  or  the  Rhine. 

A  few  miles  farther,  and  we  begin  to  descend  toward 
the  sea.  And  now,  as  Ave  get  under  the  shelter  of  the 
hills,  we  find  not  only  a  thick  underwood,  but  goodly 
trees,  till  at  last  we  are  under  an  arch  of  green,  through 
which  we  prick  up  our  horses,  and  come  out  on  an  open 
space,  and  dismount  in  front  of  a  building  that  looks  like 
a  fortress  or  a  tower,  but  Avhich  is  a  light-house,  the  only 
one  in  Morocco,  that  at  Cape  Spartel. 

It  seems  strange  that  an  empire  as  large  as  France 
had  not,  thirty  years  ago,  a  single  light-house !  It  had 
a  coast  line  of  hundreds  of  miles  on  the  Mediterranean 
and  on  the  Atlantic,  a  coast  that  was  very  dangerous  to 


i 

<,,^^ 

^^;^^-^ 

%t^          ^  ' 

TAKING   MINE   EASE   IN   MOROCCO  43 

navigators.  On  the  west  the  waves  of  the  Atlantic 
rolled  in  with  tremendous  force,  dashing  ships  against 
the  rocks,  or  wrecking  them  on  the  sands ;  so  that  sailors 
who  had  been  on  distant  voyages,  and  were  returning  to 
Europe,  often  perished  almost  in  sight  of  home.  And 
yet  this  had  continued  for  centuries,  and  not  a  single 
watch-tower  had  ever  sent  a  ray  of  light  over  the  angry 
waters  to  warn  marinei-s  of  the  dangers  of  the  sea.  The 
point  of  greatest  peril  was  at  this  shoulder  of  Africa, 
which  is  thrust  out  between  the  Mediterranean  and  the 
Atlantic,  as  ships  are  daily  and  almost  hourly  leaving  or 
entering  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar.  Nowhere  in  the  world 
was  a  lig'ht-house  more  needed.  Yet  who  should  build 
it  ?  England  and  France  and  the  United  States  protect 
their  own  shores.  But  who  should  protect  Morocco? 
It  had  not  the  same  interest  to  protect  itself.  Perhaps 
it  would  not  be  altogether  uncharitable  to  suppose  that, 
in  the  good  old  times  when  the  Barbary  pirates  carried 
on  their  trade  along  this  coast,  they  were  quite  willing 
that  Allah  should  send  storms  and  shipwrecks  in  order 
to  throw  the  richly  laden  ships  into  the  hands  of  the  true 
believers.  But  now  that  Christendom  has  driven  piracy 
from  the  seas,  there  is  no  motive  to  wish  that  shipwrecks 
should  be  more  frequent.  All  the  commercial  countries 
united  in  an  appeal  to  the  Sultan,  who  answered  that 
Morocco  had  neither  navy  nor  commerce,  and  therefore 
had  no  need  of  the  security  which  a  light-house  would 
give.  But,  for  all  that,  if  the  said  powers  would  design 
such  a  structure  as  would  meet  their  wants,  and  supervise 
its  erection,  he  would  pay  the  cost,  the  powers  for  whose 
benefit  it  was  erected  engaging  to  see  to  its  maintenance 
from  year  to  year.  This  was  not  only  a  fair,  but  a  very 
generous  offer,  and  was  at  once  accepted.     A  French 


44  THE   BAEBARY   COAST 

engineer  was  put  in  charge  of  the  work,  who,  having 
carte  hlanche,  did  not  spare  expense,  but  used  all  his 
resources  to  build  a  tower  that  should  stand  any  storm 
that  blows.  So  far  as  a  mere  visitor  could  judge,  he 
accomplished  his  purpose,  for  in  appearance  it  is  as  solid 
as  the  rocky  foundation  on  which  it  stands.  It  is  a  mas- 
sive structure,  with  stone  walls  of  great  thickness,  rising 
in  a  square  up  to  the  circular  lantern.  Of  course  we 
climbed  to  the  top  to  inspect  the  great  illuminator.  As 
we  looked  out  over  the  waves,  we  saw  that  it  must  sweep 
a  vast  horizon.  The  lamp  itself  is  an  object-lesson.  It 
is  a  study  to  see  how  such  a  light  is  generated.  We  have 
been  taught  that  any  light,  great  or  small,  travels  a  good 
ways : 

"  How  far  that  little  candle  throws  his  beams  I 
So  shines  a  good  deed  in  a  naughty  world." 

But  here  is  a  light  that  must  be  like  a  beacon  fire  on  a 
mountain  top,  for  which  there  are  provided,  I  will  not 
say  "  rivers  of  oil,"  but  certainly  barrels  and  hogsheads 
of  the  most  illuminatin":  oils  in  the  world :  and  the  lio;ht 
thus  produced  is  not  only  doubled  and  quadrupled,  but 
multiplied  an  hundred-fold  by  enormous  reflectors,  so 
that  it  is  clearly  visible  twenty-five  miles  at  sea. 

This  famous  light-house  we  found  in  charge,  not  of  a 
Moor  (I  doubt  if  there  is  one  in  all  Morocco  that  would 
know  how  to  attend  to  all  the  mechanism),  but  of  a 
German  w^ho  has  been  here  for  a  great  number  of  years, 
and  who,  though  very  simple  in  his  manners,  is  a  man 
of  intellifrence  and  scientific  knowledD:e.  He  Avas  of 
opinion  that,  long  before  the  Christian  era,  the  Phoeni- 
cians had  not  only  passed  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  but 
sailed  down  the  whole  coast  of  Africa  to  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  and  returned  by  the  Red  Sea. 


TAKING  MINE  EASE  IN  MOROCCO         45 

Though  he  is  seventy-one  years  of  age,  he  is  so  alert 
in  bod}^  as  well  as  in  mind,  that  he  thinks  nothing  of 
taking  liis  cane  and  "  skipping  "  over  the  hills  ten  miles 
to  Tangier,  and  back  again. 

One  of  the  things  which  the  old  man  took  a  pride  in 
showing  us  was  his  Book  of  Visitors,  in  which  are  some 
illustrious  names.  Among  the  earliest  visitors  (it  must 
have  been  soon  after  the  light-house  was  built,  for  it  was 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago)  appears  this  rec- 
ord of  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh  : 

"  15tli  of  January,  1866,  Alfred  [who,  though  under  the  head 
of  'Occupation'  he  is  entered  'Prince,'  had  at  the  time  the 
practical  business  of  an  officer  in  the  British  navy,  so  that  further 
is  added],  H.  M.  S.  [Her  Majesty's  Ship]  'Raccoon,'"  with  the 
brief  comment  :  "  H.  R.  H.  [His  Royal  Highness]  and  party  much 
pleased  with  the  manner  in  which  the  light-house  is  kept." 

More  than  twenty  years  later  appears  a  still  more 
illustrious  name,  no  less  than  that  of  the  Sultan  of  Mo- 
rocco. Under  the  year  "  1889"  is  the  following  record 
entered  by  the  keeper  of  the  light-house : 

"  Aujourd'hui  le  5  Octobre  (a  9  heures  du  matin)  a  6t§  ici  S.  M. 
Scherifitienne  Sidna  Muley  Hassan  d  voir  son  unique  Phare  (dans 
tout  I'Empire).  S.  M.  a  inspectionng  tout  en  general,  6tant  trfis 
aimable  avec  tons  les  employes  du  service  et  avec  leurs  families. 

"  J.  GUMPERT, 

"  Guardien  chef.'''' 

"When  all  this  sight-seeing  was  over,  and  the  official 
business  also — for  the  Consul,  as  representing  one  of  the 
powers  that  contribute  to  the  maintenance  of  the  light- 
house (there  are  eleven  in  all,  each  paying  annually  fif- 
teen liundred  francs,  or  three  hundred  dollars),  has  to 
make  an  inspection  several  times  a  year — he  invited  us 
to  a  service  which  is  always  agreeable  after  a  long  ride. 


46  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

I  had  observed  in  our  train  a  donkey  whose  panniers 
seemed  to  be  filled  with  a  preparation  for  some  festivity. 
"When  we  were  seated  round  the  table,  the  Consul  re- 
minded us  that  it  was  the  4th  of  March,  on  which  a  new 
administration  was  to  be  inaugurated  at  Washington, 
and  he  desired  us  all  to  join  him  in  wishing  long  life 
and  health  and  prosperity  to  President  Cleveland.  We 
afterward  learned,  through  the  English  papers,  that  he 
was  inaugurated  in  a  snowstorm,  and  wished  that  we 
could  have  sent  him,  and  the  crowds  in  the  capital  on 
that  da}'^,  a  little  of  our  African  sunshine.  Certainly 
every  true  American,  in  whatever  part  of  the  world  he 
may  be,  Avould  join  with  a  full  heart  in  wishing  all 
possible  good  to  one  who  is  at  the  head  of  the  Great 
Republic ! 

The  allusion  to  country  and  home  set  my  heart  quiv- 
ering, in  spite  of  my  new-born  enthusiasm  for  Africa ; 
and  I  went  out  upon  the  rocks,  and,  leaning  against  one 
that  stood  upright,  turned  my  eyes  to  the  west,  and 
gave  a  long,  lingering  look  toward  America.  There  it 
Avas,  far,  far  away  below  the  horizon  ;  yet,  for  all  that, 
strong  and  steadfast,  the  land  of  promise  and  of  hope. 
I  can  never  resist  such  a  situation,  and,  before  I  knew  it, 
I  was  repeating  to  myself  the  old  words  : 

"  The  breaking  waves  dashed  high 
On  a  stern  and  rock-bound  coast  ; 
And  the  woods,  against  a  stormy  sky, 
Their  giant  branches  tossed." 

Out  of  such  storm  and  darkness  came  the  wonder  of 
history.  Four  hundred  years  have  passed  since  Colum- 
bus first  saw  the  Western  shores,  and  in  that  time  the 
unknown  land  has  grown  to  be  the  light  and  hope  of 
the  world. 


CHAPTER  V 

PALACE    AND    PRISOIT 

"I  stood  in  Venice,  on  the  Bridge  of  Sighs, 
A  Palace  and  a  Prison  on  each  hand." 

So  wrote  Byron  of  the  City  -in  the  Sea — h'nes  that 
have  come  to  me  here,  as  I  stood  on  the  Kasbah,  which 
looks  out  upon  a  greater  sea  than  the  Adriatic,  and  that, 
under  its  white  walls  which  shine  so  brightly  in  this 
African  sun,  hides  a  mass  of  human  suffering  as  great  as 
ever  festered  and  rotted  in  the  dungeons  of  the  Palace  of 
the  Doges.  It  is  a  sad  lesson,  but  may  be  a  profitable 
one,  to  set  in  contrast  this  magnificence  and  this  misery. 

Soon  after  our  arrival  our  Consul  wrote  that  he  had 
made  arrangements  to  present  me,  with  Richard  Hard- 
ing  Davis,  to  the  Moorish  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
and  to  the  Bashaw,  who  is  the  Governor  of  Tangier. 
The  day  fixed  was  Friday,  which  is  the  Moslem  Sun- 
day, on  which  no  business  is  done  till  after  the  hours 
of  devotion,  when  it  is  taken  for  granted  that  all  true 
believers  are  in  the  mosque,  saying  their  prayers,  during 
which  time  the  gates  are  shut  lest  the  infidels  might 
steal  in  and  capture  the  city!  But  at  three  o'clock 
their  prayers  are  ended,  and  these  high  dignitaries  would 
be  happy  to  receive  us.  Accordingly,  at  that  hour, 
Davis  and  I  met  at  the  Consul's  office,  and  all  together 
walked  up  the  hill  to  the  Kasbah. 

"We  were  first  to  pay  our  respects  to  the  Minister  of 


48  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

Foreign  Affah's,  who,  as  soon  as  we  were  announced, 
came  out  to  meet  us — ^an  old  man,  with  a  white  beard, 
and  a  most  kindly  face — and  w^elcomed  us  with  true 
Eastern  hospitality.  Conducting  us  into  a  reception- 
room,  he  made  us  at  once  at  home,  taking  a  chair  in 
the  midst  of  us,  so  that  we  formed  a  little  circle.  His 
manner  was  so  gracious  and  his  countenance  so  benevo- 
lent, that  we  could  not  help  flattering  ourselves  that  his 
courtesy  was  a  little  more  than  formal  as  he  asked 
after  our  welfare.  The  conversation  then  took  a  wider 
range,  the  burden  of  which,  of  course,  fell  upon  the 
Consul,  who  speaks  Arabic  like  a  native,  while  Davis 
and  I  put  in  a  word  now  and  then,  to  give,  or  to  receive, 
information.  As  we  were  warm  in  praise  of  the  beauties 
of  Tangier,  he  in  return  expressed  his  good  wishes  for 
our  country,  though  his  ideas  about  it  were  somewhat 
vague.  The  Moors  know  but  little  of  foreign  countries, 
except  Spain,  whose  shores  they  see  across  the  Mediter- 
ranean. Apparently  all  that  the  Minister  knew  about 
America  was  that  it  was  a  very  big  countr}'^,  and  very 
far  away.  As  some  allusion  was  made  to  the  European 
powere  whose  ships  of  war  had  been  lately  in  these 
waters,  as  if  they  had  designs  upon  the  independence  of 
Morocco,  Davis  (the  wicked  fellow !)  intimated  that  Mo- 
rocco would  be  a  match  for  them  all !  Then,  venturing 
a  little  farther,  as  he  knew  that  the  Moslems  have  a  great 
veneration  for  sanctity,  he  whispered  to  the  Consul,  with 
a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  "Tell  him  that  Dr.  Field  is  a  holy 
man,"  which  he  would  understand  as  being  a  sort  of 
Christian  "mollah;"  at  which  the  Minister  turned  rev- 
erently to  me,  and  remarked,  what  apparently  he  had 
not  observed  before,  that  there  was  something  in  my 
very  countenance  which  indicated  this :   a  dignity  and 


PALACE   AND   PRISON  49 

benevolence  which  showed  that  I  was,  as  he  expressed  it, 
"  a  divine  man,"  an  epithet  which  I  suppose  he  would 
apply  to  a  ''  marabout,"  or  Moslem  saint.  I  was  glad  to 
have  his  good  opinion,  however  little  I  deserved  it,  and 
we  parted  with  bowings  and  salaams  that  were  not  only 
kindly,  but  almost  affectionate ;  and  I  shall  always  think 
of  the  simple  old  man  as  one  of  the  really  good  Mussul- 
mans on  whom  may  descend  the  blessing  of  Allah  and 
the  Prophet ! 

From  the  Minister's  we  proceeded  to  the  Palace  of  the 
Governor,  Entering  the  court,  we  saw  that  we  were  to 
be  received  with  some  formality.  In  front  of  the  arched 
entrance  were  drawn  up  a  number  of  oflBcials,  who,  the 
Consul  explained,  were  not  mere  retainers  of  the  palace, 
but  '"  captains  of  the  guard,"  who  were  called  out  only 
on  special  occasions  and  to  do  honor  to  exalted  pei'son- 
ages.  They  were  stately  figures  in  their  long  robes 
and  snowy  turbans.  As  we  passed  through  this  double 
line,  Davis  and  I  said  not  a  word,  but  walked  erect,  stem 
and  silent,  as  became  our  quite  unknown  (!)  and  myste- 
rious importance,  feeling  the  while  that  it  Avas  worth 
coming  all  the  way  from  America  to  the  Barbary  coast 
to  receive  such  homage. 

At  the  grand  portal  the  Governor  met  us  to  conduct 
us  into  the  interior;  and  now,  for  the  first  time,  we 
recoofnized  a  fio-ure  which  answered  to  our  ideal  of  a 
Moor.  Davis,  who  is  himself  over  six  feet,  had  for  once 
to  look  up,  and  whispered  to  me,  as  the  Bashaw  swept 
before  us  in  his  flowing  robes,  "What  a  magnificent 
specimen  of  manly  strength  and  beauty ! "  He  led  us 
through  a  labyrinth  of  passages,  coming  out  now  and 
then  into  stately  halls  with  exquisite  points  of  archi- 
tecture in  ceilings  and  arches  wrought  in  the  Moorish 
4 


50  THE   BARBAEY   COAST 

fretted  work,  which  is  one  of  the  beauties  of  the  Al- 
hambra. 

But  no  one  of  these  was  the  Hall  of  Audience,  at  least 
for  us,  but  a  sort  of  recess  or  alcove,  into  which  the 
Goverrior  took  us,  perhaps  as  a  more  familiar  way  of 
receiving  those  whom  he  counted  his  personal  friends. 
Had  we  been  Moslems,  he  would  have  seated  himself 
in  Moslem  fashion,  on  a  divan,  or  a  broad  mattress, 
covered  with  the  gorgeous  rugs  of  the  East,  where  he 
would  have  doubled  up  his  long  legs  under  him.  But 
in  deference  to  our  Christian  customs,  chairs  had  been 
placed  for  us.  N^or  would  he  sit  in  any  other  fashion 
himself.  As  there  were  only  three  chairs,  we  remained 
standing  till  he  should  take  his  seat ;  but,  not  to  be  out- 
done in  courtesy,  he  insisted  on  ray  sitting  down  in  the 
place  reserved  for  him,  while  he  stood  till  another  chair 
was  brought,  and  we  were  all  seated  together. 

The  Governor  is  much  younger  than  the  Minister, 
who  is  seventy,  while  he  is  but  forty-two,  and  is  much 
more  a  man  of  the  world.  He  comes  of  a  warlike  race, 
one  of  his  ancestors  having  fought  against  England 
when  she  held  Tangier,  and  been  among  those  who 
marched  in  when  the  English  marched  out.  He  is 
himself  a  general  in  the  array,  and  carries  himself  like  a 
soldier.  Nor  could  a  soldier  of  any  country  have  been 
more  gracious.  And  when  coffee  was  brought  in  on  a 
silver  tray  and  served  in  tiny  cups,  after  the  dainty 
fashion  of  the  East,  we  all  felt  the  gentle  stimulus,  and 
the  conversation  grew  animated,  turning  upon  the  affairs 
of  the  day,  upon  which  the  Governor  showed  himself 
Avell  informed  and  talked  intelligently. 

But,  while  all  this  interested  us,  Davis  and  I,  like  true 
courtiers  (or  true   editors),  had   come  to  court  for  an 


PALACE   AND  PRISON"  61 

object.  He,  being  somewhat  of  a  sporting  turn — that  is, 
fond  of  riding,  shooting,  and  hunting — was  after  big 
game  ;  on  the  lookout  to  see  something  which  others 
had  not  seen ;  and  such  a  place  there  was  in  Tangier  in 
tlie  famous  prison,  which  had  a  reputation  almost  as 
bad  as  the  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta,  but  into  which  no 
foreigner  had  been  able  to  penetrate.  Every  stranger 
w^as  taken  to  see  the  outside,  but  the  only  glimpse  of 
what  was  within  was  through  a  hole  in  the  wall,  which 
w^as  quite  enough  for  most  persons,  who  held  their  noses 
and  their  breath  while  they  peered  into  the  darkness  of 
the  interior.  But  we  took  it  into  our  foolish  heads  that 
we  should  like  to  go  farther.  Nothing  was  too  bad  for 
our  eyes  to  see  or  our  stomachs  to  endure.  But  we  were 
told  that  it  was  impossible.  It  was  the  common  saying 
in  Tangier,  that  "  no  one  could  go  into  the  prison  but 
prisonei*s."  There  was  danger  in  the  attempt.  Some 
of  the  inmates  had  horrible  diseases,  and  might  give 
us  the  leprosy  or  the  plague.  Others  were  said  to  be 
raving  maniacs,  who  might  spring  upon  us  and  inflict 
some  deadly  injury  before  we  could  be  rescued.  And 
yet  such  is  the  pervereity  of  human  nature,  that  these 
dangers  only  stimulated  our  curiosity.  So  we  ventured 
to  ask,  and  even  to  urge.  Colonel  Mathews  to  obtain 
the  desired  permission.  "  You  can  manage  it  for  us,"  I 
said.  He  promised  to  do  what  he  could,  but  gave  us  no 
encouragement,  for  he  had  recently  made  the  same 
request,  and  been  politely,  but  firmly,  refused.  But,  as 
the  conversation  with  the  Governor  went  on,  and  his 
heart  seemed  to  warm  toward  us,  I  whispered  to  the 
Consul,  "  Now  is  your  time.  "  "  Not  quite  yet,"  he 
answered,  "  wait  a  moment ; "  for  he  was  too  much  of 
a  diplomat  to  spoil  the  game  by  premature  disclosure 


62  THE   BARBARY    COAST 

of  his  purpose,  and  he  was  skirmishing  for  position. 
Presently  he  leaned  forward  so  that  his  head  almost 
touched  the  Governor's,  as  if  he  had  something  to 
whisper  confidentially,  and  made  known  our  request. 
Instantly  the  Governor's  countenance  fell.  He  did  not 
lose  a  particle  of  his  courtesy,  but  he  was  in  a  predica- 
ment. For  two  years  that  he  had  been  Governor,  he 
had  never  given  permission.  If  he  yielded  now,  he 
would  be  importuned  to  do  for  others  what  he  had  done 
for  us.  All  this  the  Consul  admitted,  but  still  asked  it 
on  the  ground  of  personal  friendship,  which  had  the 
more  weight,  as  he  is  a  favorite  with  the  Moorish 
officials,  and  when  he  added  that  it  was  a  favor  which 
he  would  not  ask  again,  the  Governor  could  no  longer 
refuse ;  and  as  we  rose  to  leave,  he  accompanied  us  to 
the  outer  court,  and  gave  orders  to  an  officer  of  the 
guard  to  go  with  us  in  person,  and  see  that  Ave  were 
allowed  to  enter. 

We  had  not  far  to  go,  for  here,  as  in  Venice,  the 
palace  and  the  prison  are  two  parts  of  one  institution. 
In  the  good  old  times,  when  the  Kasbah  Avas  built,  it 
was  not  merely  as  a  royal  residence,  but  as  a  citadel, 
with  guns  mounted  on  the  outer  wall ;  and  it  was  con- 
venient to  have  a  place  of  punishment  close  at  hand, 
so  that  one  who  fell  under  the  Bashaw's  displeasure 
could  be  instantly  thrown  into  a  dungeon.  And  so  it  is 
that  the  prison  is  in  the  courtyard  of  the  palace,  and, 
indeed,  a  part  of  it,  and  it  is  but  a  step  from  one  to  the 
other. 

Colonel  Mathews  accompanied  us  to  the  entrance,  but 
would  not  go  inside.  He  had  once  been  in  as  Consul, 
when  he  was  recognized  by  the  prisoners,  who  gathered 
round  him,    throwing  themselves  at  his  feet,    seizing 


PALACE   AND   PRISON  68 

hold  of  his  legs,  kissing  his  hands,  and  beseeching  him, 
in  the  name  of  God,  to  deliver  them  from  their  miser}'-. 
He  could  hai-dly  tear  himself  away,  and  had  no  wish  to 
repeat  the  experiment.  He  saw  us  attempt  it  with 
some  apprehension,  and  was  relieved  when  we  emerged 
in  safety. 

There  are  two  prisons,  side  by  side,  one  for  the  city 
and  one  for  the  country.  We  began  with  the  former, 
to  which  there  is  no  entrance  but  by  a  square  window 
in  the  wall,  Avhich  is  closed  up  by  a  heavy  door.  This 
was  swung  open,  and  Davis  sprang  in  and  I  followed ; 
and  Avhen  we  heard  it  shut  behind  us  with  a  bang,  we 
knew  that  we  were  at  last  where  we  had  wished  to  be, 
inside  of  the  prison  of  Tangier. 

To  give  my  first  impression,  I  was  disappointed :  it  was 
not  as  bad  as  I  had  expected.  To  be  sure,  it  was  not  an 
attractive  place — prisons  never  are — but  it  was  not  a 
Chamber  of  Horrors.  I  saw  no  torture  such  as  I  had 
seen  in  China.  In  one  respect  it  might  be  even  more 
tolerable  than  the  prisons  of  civilized  countries,  for  at 
least  the  inmates  had  not  solitude  added  to  imprison- 
ment. Instead  of  being  shut  up  in  cells,  as  in  England 
and  America,  they  were  all  in  one  large  room,  where,  as 
misery  loves  company,  they  had  whatever  comfort  could 
be  found  in  such  dreary  companionship.  They  were 
spared,  also,  the  vacancy  and  wretchedness  of  Idleness ; 
for,  as  they  sat  upon  the  ground,  their  fingers  could  be 
occupied  in  making  out  of  palmetto  grass  the  panniers 
that  bestride  the  little  donke3's  of  the  city,  by  which 
thev  miijht  earn  a  trifle  for  their  own  subsistence. 

This  would  not  be  so  bad,  but  the  inhuman  thing 
about  it  was,  that  the  innocent  were  made  to  suffer  with 
the  guilty.     There  are  no  degrees  of  crime,  and  in  some 


54  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

cases  there  may  be  no  crime  "whatever ;  for  men  are 
thrown  into  prison  for  debt,  for  petty  offences,  or  for 
none  at  all,  but  only  as  a  means  of  extorting  money  for 
their  release.  Those  who  have  done  no  wrong  are 
forced  into  the  vilest  companionship,  where  all  rot  to- 
gether in  one  foul  mass  of  decaying  humanity. 

Here  ended  our  first  lesson,  and  we  passed  on  to  the 
next.  The  country  prison,  like  the  other,  is  bolted  and 
barred  in  a  way  to  show  that  it  is  not  intended  to  be 
open  to  visitors.  The  only  entrance  is  through  a  grated 
window,  backed  by  a  heavy  wooden  door,  which  was 
unlocked  for  us,  and  we  climbed  through  the  iron  bars, 
throwing  out  our  legs  before  us,  so  that  we  might  fall 
on  our  feet.  Here  our  field  of  observation  Avas  greatly 
increased,  as  this  prison  is  very  much  larger  than  the 
other,  and  has  in  the  centre  a  small  court,  with  a  space 
above  it  open  to  the  sky  for  the  admission  of  light  and 
air.  It  has  nearly  three  times  as  many  inmates,  with  a 
greater  variety  of  crime,  the  petty  thieves  of  the  city 
giving  place  to  the  bold  brigands  of  the  mountains,  who 
have  been  the  terror  of  the  country,  and  made  them- 
selves famous  by  their  crimes.  In  going  into  such  a 
crowd  the  prison-keepers  evidently  felt  that  we  were  in 
some  personal  danger,  for  two  of  them  foUowetl  us,  and 
kept  close  at  our  heels,  for  fear  of  "  accidents."  But  the 
precaution  was  hardly  necessary,  for  the  most  desperate 
criminals  were  chained  at  the  ankles,  so  that  they  could 
only  hobble  toward  us.  It  was  Avell  that  we  met  them 
here,  rather  than  in  some  lonely  place  in  the  forest  or  on 
the  desert,  for  I  doubt  not  that  more  than  one  looked  us 
in  the  eye  who  would  kill  a  man  as  he  would  kill  a  sheep. 
These  men  were  professional  robbers  and  murderers,  and 
scanned  us  from  head  to  foot,  in  the  way  of  business, 


PALACE  AND   PRISON  55 

trying  to  "  size  us  up "  in  case  they  should  have  an 
opportunity  to  pay  their  respects  to  us  under  other  con- 
ditions. But  for  the  present  they  offered  us  no  violence, 
nor  made  even  a  threatening  gesture.  They  are  pretty 
well  subdued  by  the  prison  discipline,  which  is  not  by 
chains,  nor  flogging,  nor  the  dark  cell.  There  is  some- 
thing more  effective  than  this,  that  will  bring  down  the 
most  hardened  wretch  that  ever  fought  against  society — 
it  is  starvation.  This  is  the  constant  discipline  in  the 
prisons  of  Tangier,  for  there  are  no  prison  rations,  no 
allowance  of  food  whatever.  He  who  gets  it  must  pay 
for  it  like  anybody  else,  and  the  few  pence  a  day  that 
he  can  earn,  cannot  go  very  far ;  and  if  his  friends  do 
not  bring  him  something  to  eat,  he  must  live  on  charity, 
a  virtue  that  does  not  abound  in  Moslem  countries. 
Hence  they  must  often  go  for  days  without  food,  till 
they  are  on  the  borders  of  starvation.  This  cannot  be 
carried  beyond  a  certain  point.  It  takes  a  strong  man 
to  stand  it  long.  Many  whom  we  saw  were  in  the  last 
stages.  How  frequent  are  the  deaths  we  have  no  means 
of  knowing,  but  we  could  not  doubt  that  often,  in  the 
dead  of  night,  naked  bodies  were  taken  out  of  that  very 
window  by  which  we  crawled  in,  and  dragged  down  the 
hill,  to  be  thrown  into  a  ditch  or  into  the  sea. 

In  the  presence  of  such  awful  misery,  one's  moral 
reflections  are  silent.  "Whatever  the  crimes  of  these 
men,  we  could  but  feel  the  horrors  of  their  situation. 
If  they  had  raised  a  hand  to  strike  us,  we  might  strike 
back ;  but  not  so  when  the  hand  was  stretched  out  with 
a  look  of  anguish  that  seemed  to  say,  "  For  God's  sake, 
have  pity  on  us ! "  My  impulse  was  to  take  out  a  hand-, 
ful  of  small  coin,  and  throw  it  right  and  left.  But  I 
was  told  that  if  I  did  this,  the  moment  our  backs  were 


66  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

turned  the  poor  creatures  would  fight  among  themselves 
for  it,  and  the  strongest  would  get  it,  leaving  the  Aveak- 
est  and  most  helpless  worse  off  than  before.  JSTor  would 
it  do  to  intrust  money  to  buy  bread  to  the  keepers,  who 
would  put  it  in  their  pockets,  and  not  a  penny  Avould 
ever  reach  the  starving  convicts,  nor  as  much  as  a  crust 
of  bread  be  put  into  their  hungry  mouths. 

I  came  away,  saddened  at  what  I  saw,  and  sadder  still 
that  I  could  do  nothing  to  relieve  it.  The  scene  haunted 
me.  I  had  continually  before  me  the  picture  of  the  men 
shut  up  within  those  walls,  condemned  to  a  living  death. 
I  saw  the  half-naked  forms  crouching  upon  the  ground, 
trying  to  hide  themselves  under  rags,  cowering  in  the 
gloom,  as  Dante  may  have  imagined  the  damned  in  the 
nethermost  depths  of  hell. 

"When  the  blessed  Sabbath  came,  I  thought  I  would 
try  to  alleviate  in  some  slight  degree  this  physical  suffer- 
ing, if  I  could  not  drive  away  the  mental  horror  and 
despair.  If  I  could  not  trust  the  keepers  of  the  prison 
to  buy  bread,  I  would  go  myself  and  buy  it,  and  put  it 
into  the  prisoners'  hands.  And  so,  taking  a  servant  from 
the  hotel,  and  a  couple  of  soldiers  from  the  Consul's,  who 
could  enforce  my  purpose  Avith  his  authority,  I  sent  them 
into  the  market  with  money  to  buy  a  hundred  loaves  of 
bread,  and  went  on  to  the  Kasbah  to  wait  for  their 
coming.  In  half  an  hour  they  appeared  with  a  donkey 
bearing  a  load  that  was  too  heavy  for  the  men  to  carry. 
The  panniers  were  piled  high  with  the  loaves.  But  my 
work  was  not  yet  done.  My  major-domo  said  it  would 
not  do  to  leave  the  distribution  to  the  keepers,  for  if  I 
did,  the  greater  part  would  never  see  the  inside  of  the 
prison,  but  that  I  must  go  in  myself,  and  put  the  bread 
into  the  prisoners'  hands.    So  once  more  the  grated  win- 


PALACE  AND  PRISON  57 

dows  opened,  and,  "  accoutred  as  I  was  "  in  my  Sunday 
dress,  "  I  plunged  in."  Not  to  lose  a  single  loaf,  the  men 
dragged  in  after  me  the  very  panniers  that  had  been 
taken  from  the  donkey's  back,  and  spread  them  out  on 
the  prison  floor,  a  sight,  I  venture  to  say,  that  these  poor 
creatures  never  saw  before.  As  there  were  over  a  hun- 
dred of  them — thirty-two  in  the  city  prison,  and  eighty- 
five  in  the  other — there  were  not  quite  loaves  to  go 
round,  so  that  some  were  broken  in  two ;  but  half  a  loaf 
would  be  enough  for  "  a  square  meal,"  or  two  or  three 
such.  Indeed,  I  believe  it  was  more  substantial  food  than 
many  of  them  would  get  in  a  week.  And  never  did  I 
feel  more  grateful  for  any  privilege  than  that  of  going 
from  one  to  another,  and  giving  to  t-hem  bread  with  my 
own  hands. 

Some  who  are  curious  in  their  observation  of  human 
nature,  even  in  its  agonies,  have  asked  how  the  prisoners 
received  this  unexpected  visitation.  Were  they  grateful 
for  it?  Did  they  show  their  gratitude  ?  No,  not  much  ! 
A  few  rose  up  and  came  toward  me,  bewildered  by  the 
unexpected  scene,  but  the  greater  part  sat  still  upon  the 
ground,  like  Job  and  his  friends,  in  speechless  misery.  I 
was  not  disappointed  at  this  silence,  for  I  did  not  ask 
thanks  for  doing  an  act  of  humanity.  Nor  were  they  in 
a  condition  to  be  very  demonstrative.  When  a  man 
feels  hunger  gnawing  at  his  vitals,  his  sensibility  is  dead- 
ened by  his  wretchedness.  His  misery  makes  him  dumb. 
One,  whose  face  was  a  little  more  human  than  the  rest, 
beckoned  to  me,  and  to  show  that  he  could  not  move, 
lifted  up  his  ragged  covering,  and  exposed  a  body  swollen 
with  some  horrible  disease,  and  ready,  like  Judas,  to 
burst  asunder  in  the  midst.  I  went  to  him  and  put  a 
loaf  into  his  hand,  for  which  he  murmured  some  words  of 


58  THE  BARBARY  COAST 

thankfulness.  There  was  an  old  man  who  sat  on  the 
floor  by  the  entrance,  whose  eyes  met  mine,  as  I  was 
coming  out,  with  a  peculiar  expression.  I  stopped  and 
took  him  by  the  hand,  and  gave  him  a  double  portion, 
and  was  glad  to  see  him  hide  the  loaves  in  his  jelab,  so 
that  no  one  stronger  than  he  could  take  them  from  him. 
He  was  content,  and  there  stole  over  his  face  a  faint  ap- 
pearance of  Moslem  resignation,  which  seemed  to  say, 
"  It  matters  little,  for  it  will  soon  be  over." 

Some  may  think,  that  having  such  an  opportunity  to 
preach  to  the  spirits  in  prison,  I  should  have  improved 
tlie  occasion  to  give  them  some  good  lessons.  But  I 
could  speak  to  them  only  in  the  sign  language ;  and  even 
if  I  could  have  spoken  in  their  own  tongue,  what  could 
I  say?  Talk  to  them  of  God?  They  would  answer, 
"  There  is  no  God,  or  He  would  not  leave  us  in  this  mis- 
ery." He  who  was  wiser  than  we,  fed  the  multitude  as 
well  as  taught  them.  And  for  these  poor  creatures,  who 
perhaps  never  received  kindness  before,  it  was  better  to 
wait  till  they  recovered  a  little  from  the  pangs  of  hun- 
ger, before  attempting  any  instruction.  So  we  left 
them  to  their  own  thoughts,  to  which  the  day's  experi- 
ence might  give  a  new  turn.  I  had  some  faith  in  the 
power  of  kindness.  Perchance,  I  thought,  when  the 
night  comes  on,  as  they  lie  upon  the  ground  and  look 
upward  through  that  open  space  in  the  roof  to  the  firma- 
ment above  them,  the  stars  that  shine  so  brightly  in  this 
eastern  sky  may  not  seem  so  far  away,  nor  so  cold  and 
pitiless,  and  some  faint  recognition  of  a  Higher  Power 
may  float  upward  to  the  throne  of  God. 


CHAPTER  VI 

FROM   TANGIER    TO    ALGIERS 

Tangier  is  not  an  easy  place  to  get  away  from.  A 
boat  crosses  the  straits  to  Gibraltar  two  or  three  times  a 
week,  but  it  does  not  go  up  the  Mediterranean.  For 
that  you  must  wait  for  the  French  boat  from  Cadiz, 
which  makes  a  round  trip,  touching  at  different  ports 
along  the  coast.  It  does  not  always  suit  the  traveliei''s 
convenience,  as  now  it  did  not  suit  mine,  for  it  was  to 
sail  on  the  very  day  that  the  British  Minister  at  Tangier 
was  to  give  a  reception,  at  which  I  should  see  the  whole 
foreign  colony,  with  officers  from  the  other  side  of  the 
straits,  as  the  Governor  of  Gibraltar  was  coming  over  in 
a  gunboat.  The  Bashaw,  who  is  a  real  African  lion, 
was  to  make  his  first  appearance,  with  other  "  swell 
Moors,"  a  mixture  of  European  manners  with  barbaric 
splendor,  that  one  Avould  not  miss  seeing ;  but  the  steamer 
was  to  leave  at  noon,  and  if  I  did  not  go  in  her  I  should 
be  detained  another  week. 

But  my  friends  would  not  have  me  depart  unattended. 
The  Consul  insisted  that  I  should  go  off  under  the  Ameri- 
can flag,  and,  with  the  Portuguese  Minister,  accom- 
panied me  to  the  ship,  from  which  I  looked  up  once 
more  to  the  old  Kasbah,  leaving  it  with  all  its  crimes 
upon  its  head.  As  we  swept  out  of  the  bay  and  into  the 
straits,  Gibraltar  soon  looked  down  upon  us,  never  bend- 
ing his  rocky  head,  but  permitting  us  to  pay  our  homage 
at   his   feet.     However,  I  had  two  or  three  hours  on 


60  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

shore,  enough  to  see  my  old  friend  De  Sauty,  little 
thinking  it  was  the  last  time  (he  died  a  few  weeks  after), 
and  our  Consul,  Mr.  Sprague,  and  the  Eev.  Mr.  Murray, 
both  of  whom  rode  down  with  me  to  the  landing  to  say 
good-by,  so  that  I  had  two  "  send-offs"  in  one  day. 

When  I  was  here  before  and  took  the  same  route,  the 
next  morning  found  us  anchored  at  Malaga,  where  we 
spent  a  day,  and  the  following  day  at  Melilla,  a  penal 
settlement  on  the  African  coast,  where  the  Spanish  gar- 
rison has  lately  been  attacked  by  the  fierce  native  tribes. 
These  Spanish  ports  are  now  omitted  by  the  French 
steamer,  Avhich,  on  leaving  Gibraltar,  takes  its  course 
across  the  Mediterranean.  The  next  morning  found  us 
off  a  rugged  coast  that  rises  up  in  places  like  the  Pali- 
sades on  the  Hudson,  and  at  longer  distances  like  a 
mighty  sea-wall,  as  if  to  defy  the  storms.  To  a  lands- 
man this  long  line  of  cliffs  looks  dangerous ;  one  would 
not  like  to  be  caught  in  a  northern  gale  that  should  dash 
a  ship  against  this  ironbound  coast.  But  our  French 
captain  was  a  bluff  old  sea-dog,  who  was  never  quite  at 
his  ease  except  on  his  native  element.  He  confessed  to 
me  that  he  never  felt  safe  on  land,  and  that  if  he  were 
betrayed  into  putting  his  foot  into  a  railway  carriage  he 
could  not  repress  the  feeling  that  he  was  in  positive  dan- 
ger. But  give  him  a  stout  bark,  with  ribs  of  oak,  and  a 
good  copper  bottom  under  him,  and  he  was  ready  to 
venture  into  the  most  stormy  sea,  and  give  his  ship  and 
himself  "  to  the  lightning  and  the  gale." 

On  these  Mediterranean  steamers  one  meets  travellers 
of  all  countries.  Walkinof  the  deck  I  recofjnized  a  face 
that  I  had  seen  in  Tangier,  in  the  company  of  a  gentle- 
man with  whom  I  had  a  bowing  acquaintance.  That 
was  quite  enough  for  an  introduction.     I  found  that  he 


FROM  TANGIER  TO   ALGIERS  61 

was  a  Russian  count,  who,  after  the  required  years  of 
service  in  the  army,  now  gave  himself  to  sport  as  the 
chief  end  of  man,  or  as  the  chief  dehght  of  a  soldier 
when  he  had  not  the  greater  excitement  of  war.  In 
pursuit  of  this  he  had  visited  diilerent  parts  of  the  world, 
shooting  bears  in  America  and  lions  in  Africa.  He  told 
me  how  he  went  to  Zanzibar  and  engaged  a  hundred  and 
fifty  men  for  an  expedition  into  the  interior.  The  greater 
part  of  these  were  simply  bearers,  carrying  on  their  backs 
stores  of  every  kind  for  the  long  march  and  for  the  camp. 
With  these  he  started  from  the  coast,  and,  crossing  the 
jungle,  pushed  for  the  highlands,  where,  amid  the  bound- 
less forests,  he  could  find  royal  game.  The  lion  had  no 
terror  for  him,  for  he  knew  how  to  face  the  king  of  beasts. 
"When  he  had  struck  the  trail,  and  followed  it  up  till  he 
drew  near  the  spot  where  the  lion  was  concealed,  he  would 
not  trust  anybody  but  himself,  for  he  knew  that  the  first 
low  growl  would  send  the  natives  flying.  So  he  kept 
them  in  the  rear  while  he  advanced  alone,  with  his  grip 
on  the  rifle  that  never  failed  him,  never  taking  his  eye 
off  from  one  point,  but  reserving  his  fire  till  the  great  head 
rose  up,  with  the  glittering  eyeballs  looking  straight  at 
him.  Then  he  raised  his  rifle — a  flash,  and  the  heavy 
ball  sank  into  the  lion's  brain,  and  with  one  bound  into 
the  air  he  fell  on  the  leaves  of  the  forest. 

With  the  same  cool  head  and  unshaken  nerve  he  dis- 
posed of  the  elephant,  though  the  skull  was  too  thick  to 
be  penetrated  by  an  ordinary  musket  ball.  For  elephant 
hunting,  therefore,  he  had  a  four-barrelled  rifle,  with  a 
bore  so  lar^e  that  the  discharge  of  them  all  was  like 
firing  grape  and  canister. 

Eut  to  my  inexperienced  judgment  it  seemed  as  if  the 
chance  of  being  torn  to  pieces  by  a  lion,  or  tossed  on  the 


62  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

tusk  of  an  elephant,  was  not  the  only  danger ;  there  was 
one  still  greater  in  venturing  alone  with  a  hundred  and 
fifty  savages  into  the  heart  of  an  African  forest.  "  How," 
I  asked,  "  did  you  control  j^our  men  ?  " 

"  Oh,  that  is  easy  when  you  have  once  shown  them 
that  you  are  their  master !  They  soon  found  that  I  was 
not  to  be  trifled  with,  but  that,  if  they  did  their  duty, 
they  were  well  treated  and  had  plenty  to  eat.  That  is  a 
potent  consideration  with  Africans,  and  at  any  sign  of 
insubordination  it  was  only  necessary  to  cut  off  their 
rations  to  bring  them  to  submission." 

"But  one  of  Stanley's  lieutenants  was  killed  by  a 
native.  Had  you  no  fear  of  treachery  ?  They  might 
have  killed  you  while  you  were  asleep." 

"  I  slept  apart,  and  had  one  man  who  was  devoted  to 
me  to  keep  watch,  with  orders  to  wake  me  instantly  if 
he  saw  any  one  creeping  toward  my  tent.  That  was 
enough.  My  rifle  was  always  at  hand,  and  would  soon 
scatter  them." 

Sometimes  severe  measures  were  necessary.  Where 
the  fate  of  a  whole  expedition  depends  upon  one  man, 
he  must  be  able  to  command  absolute  obedience,  and  he 
must  not  stop  at  anything  to  repress  the  first  sign  of 
mutiny.  More  than  once  he  had  hung  a  man  in  the 
sight  of  the  whole  camp.  But,  commonly,  the  rifle  was 
better  because  it  was  quicker;  he  could  level  it  the 
instant  that  he  saw  a  threatening  look. 

"  So,"  said  the  count,  "  the  danger  is  not  so  great  as 
it  seems.  The  Africans  are  like  children,  and  must  be 
treated  as  such :  not  with  cruelty  on  the  one  hand,  nor 
indulgence  on  the  other,  but  with  firmness ;  when  they 
soon  learn  to  respect  your  authority,  and  follow  you  as 
the  dos:  follows  his  master." 


FROM   TANGIER  TO  ALGIERS  63 

By  this  treatment  the  whole  body,  composed  of  such 
raw  material,  had  been  so  disciplined  that  they  followed 
him  not  sullenly,  but  with  the  utmost  fidelity.  Indeed, 
he  had  trained  them  to  be  soldiers,  so  that  on  more  than 
one  occasion  they  had  stood  firmly  against  the  attacks  of 
the  warlike  tribes  through  which  he  passed. 

This  Avas  an  exciting  experience.     I  had  read  of  such 

things  in  the  narratives  of  Gordon  Gumming  and  other 

mighty  hunters.     But  it  was  another  thing  to  have  the 

story  told  by  the  actor  in  it,  as  we  sat  on  the  deck  in 

the  twilight,   and  glided  along  these   African  shores. 

But  my  companion  had  no  idea  of  posing  as  a  hero, 

and  thought  no  more  of  shooting  a  lion  than  of  smok- 
es C5 

ing  a  cigar. 

Other  African  scenes  there  were,  the  description  of 
which  kindled  in  me  greater  enthusiasm,  such  as  that 
of  his  first  sight  of  Ruwenzori,  a  mountain  mass  that  is 
believed  by  many  geographers  to  be  none  other  than  the 
ancient  Mountains  of  the  Moon,  whose  topmost  peak, 
though  lying  under  the  equator,  is  covered  with  eternal 
snow ;  and  of  Kilimanjaro,  of  which  Bayard  Taylor 
wrote  the  majestic  lines  beginning  : 

Hail  to  thee,  monarch  of  African  mountains  ! 
Remote,  inaccessible,  silent  and  lone — 
Who,  from  the  heart  of  the  tropical  fervors, 
Liftest  to  heaven  thine  alien  snows, 
Feedins:  forever  the  fountains  that  make  thee 
Father  of  Nile  and  Creator  of  Egypt ! 

But  while  we  are  thus  passing  the  hours,  our  good  ship 
is  speeding  on  her  way.  If  there  were  no  break  in  this 
ironbound  coast,  it  would  be  unapproachable  ;  but  here 
and  there  Nature  has  kindly  cleft  it  in  twain,  that  man 
may  enter.     In  one  of  these  nooks,  where  boats  can  find 


64  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

shelter  under  the  lea  of  a  tremendous  cliff,  we  made  our 
first  landing,  at  N^emours. 

It  is  not  "  much  of  a  place,"  and  would  not  attract  a 
moment's  attention  but  for  the  fact  that  it  is  the  first 
town  in  French  territory  ;  and  that  one  word  carries  us, 
at  a  single  bound,  over  the  enormous  abyss  between  bar- 
barism and  civilization.  Here  is  a  town  laid  out  in  the 
regular  French  style,  presenting,  if  not  a  very  imposing 
appearance,  at  least  a  respectable  one,  with  a  long  row  of 
warehouses  facing  the  sea,  the  sign  of  commerce ;  and  as 
soon  as  we  set  foot  on  shore,  we  find  wide  and  well-paved 
streets,  with  wagons  passing  to  and  fro — a  sight  not  to 
be  seen  in  all  Morocco.  After  three  weeks  in  Tangier, 
where  everything  has  to  be  transported  on  the  backs  of 
camels  or  donkeys  or  men,  it  was  a  novelty  to  see  any- 
thing on  wheels,  if  it  were  only  a  cart  laden  with  military 
stores.  Of  course,  in  a  frontier  town  the  military  ele- 
ment is  conspicuous.  The  soldier  is  abroad,  and  the  zou- 
aves, with  their  red  caps  set  jauntily  on  their  lieads,  and 
their  baggy  Turkish  trousers,  make  the  streets  and  squares 
quite  gay.  A  company  was  just  marching  out  of  one  of 
the  gates  to  practise  firing  at  a  target.  It  was  good  to 
find  myself  under  the  French  fiag,  a  sign  that  we  had 
reached  a  land  where  we  were  under  the  protection  of 
law  supported  by  military  power.  But  it  is  not  merely 
soldiers  that  one  sees  in  ^Nemours  :  there  are  schools  for 
children,  as  well  as  barracks  for  troops;  houses  fit  for 
human  beings  to  live  in,  with  everything  that  man  needs 
that  he  may  be  clothed  and  warmed  and  fed ;  a  hos- 
pital for  the  sick,  and  a  church  for  the  worship  of  God. 
All  these  were  the  signs  that  we  had  left  behind  us 
African  barbarism,  and  entered  once  more  into  the 
sphere   of   European  civilization. 


FROM  TANGIER  TO  ALGIERS     .  65 

Another  night's  sail  brought  us  to  Oran,  which  is  a 
large  seaport,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  bay  is  so  broad 
and  open  that  a  storm  from  the  north  would  roll  the 
waves  into  it  with  tremendous  power.  But  this  danger 
is  guarded  against  by  a  long  and  massive  breakwater, 
behind  which  the  great  steamers  of  the  Compagnie  Gen- 
erale  Transatlantique  lie  in  safet3\ 

We  landed  in  the  early  morning.  The  town  has 
somewiiat  of  the  picturesqueness  of  Tangier,  a  semi- 
circle of  hills  rising  from  the  sea,  and  it  has  what 
Tangier  has  not,  a  decent  government.  At  the  very 
landing  one  sees  the  contrast  between  civilization  and 
barbarism.  Instead  of  being  taken  off  the  ship  in  a  boat, 
by  Arabs  yelling  and  almost  fighting  over  the  possession 
of  an  unfortunate  traveller,  the  steamer  comes  up  to  the 
qua}'^,  and  the  American  aboard  walks  quietly  on  shore 
as  at  New  York,  and  with  less  difficulty  through  the 
Custom  House,  which  is  an  affair  of  five  minutes ;  and 
then  if  he  is  eager  to  press  on,  he  can  at  once  depart  for 
Algiers. 

But  Oran  itself  is  well  worth  a  day  or  two.  Here  is  a 
city  of  seventy  thousand  inhabitants,  in  which  there  is 
a  curious  mixture  of  the  Orient  and  Occident;  of  mosques 
and  churches;  French  shops  and  Eastern  bazaars. 
Wherever  the  French  plant  their  foot,  they  make  a  little 
Paris  ;  and,  better  still,  their  rule  shows  itself  in  a  vigor- 
ous police,  in  the  good  order  which  is  kept  in  the  streets, 
and  in  the  general  European  air  of  this  African  city. 

The  greatest  surprise  to  the  traveller  who  has  just  left 
Morocco  will  be  when  he  drives  to  the  station  and  takes 
his  seat  in  a  luxurious  carriage  for  Algiere.  A  railroad 
in  Africa !  which  we  have  been  wont  to  think  of  as  a 
land  of  deserts,  to  be  traversed  only  by  slow-moving 
5 


66  .  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

caravans.  In  ray  boyish  daj^s  I  read  the  travels  of 
Mungo  Park,  and  was  particularly  moved  by  the  inci- 
dent of  his  coming,  on  one  occasion,  to  an  African  vil- 
lage, and  sitting  down,  footsore  and  weary,  under  a  tree, 
where  the  natives  saw  him,  but  passed  him  with  utter 
neglect,  till  some  women  came  and  invited  him  to  their 
hut,  and  gave  him  food  ;  and  when  he  had  lain  down  on 
the  mattino^,  he  heard  them  sinofing : 

" The  white  man  came  and  sat  under  a  tree; 
The  wind  roared  and  the  rain  fell  ; 
Pity  the  poor  white  man ! 
He  has  no  wife  to  bring  him  milk, 
No  wife  to  grind  his  corn." 

Perhaps  Mungo  Park  fell  asleep  listening  to  that  song, 
and  dreamed  a  dream  of  the  future  of  the  Dark  Conti- 
nent ;  but  in  his  wildest  dream  was  never  a  vision  so 
utterly  beyond  belief  in  his  waking  hours  as  that  the 
day  would  come  w^hen  travellers  would  be  whirled  in 
fire-drawn  cars  along  the  shores  and  over  the  mountains 
of  Africa. 
'  It  is  a  long  day's  ride  from  Oran  to  Algiers.  It 
would  not  be  long  in  France  or  America,  for  the  dis- 
tance is  but  four  hundred  and  twenty  kilometres  (about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  miles),  or  as  far  as  from  ]S"ew 
York  to  Boston,  or  to  Washington,  over  which  one  of 
our  fast  trains  would  pass  in  six  hours.  But  here  they 
make  a  full  day  of  it,  starting  at  ten  in  the  morning  and 
arriving  at  ten  at  night.  There  is  some  excuse  for  this 
slowness,  for  the  country  is  new ;  and  as  there  is  but  one 
through  train  a  day,  it  must  needs  stop  at  every  little 
French  settlement.  Impatient  Americans  may  think  this 
very  tedious.     But  I  found  the  day  full  of  interest,  as  I 


FROM   TANGIER  TO   ALGIERS  67 

was  in  no  haste  to  reach  a  destined  point,  but  only  wished 
to  see  the  country.  As  the  count  and  I  had  a  compart- 
ment to  ourselves,  we  had  the  utmost  freedom  of  conver. 
sation,  and  when  Africa  grew  dull,  could  change  the 
subject,  and  talk  of  Russia  or  America.  But  Africa  did 
not  grow  dull.  As  we  were  all  the  time  looking  out  of 
the  windows,  there  was  always  something  new  to  observe. 
On  leaving  Oran  we  bore  away  from  the  sea,  of  which 
we  did  not  have  a  glimpse  again  till  we  approached 
Algiers.  The  country  was  at  first  uncultivated.  A  few 
Arabs  here  and  there  were  tending  their  flocks,  but  for 
the  most  part  the  region  seemed  thinly  inhabited,  al- 
though the  native  population  may  be  more  considerable 
nearer  the  coast.  But  I  was  more  interested  in  observ- 
ing the  beginning  of  French  settlements.  As  we  stopped 
at  the  stations,  it  was  pleasant  to  see  with  what  care  the 
French  emigrants  were  cultivating  their  plots  of  ground, 
surrounding  their  little  houses  with  gardens,  in  which 
were  orange  trees  and  olive  trees,  and  other  fruit  trees 
grown  in  a  semi-tropical  climate,  while  in  a  wider  circle 
Avere  vineyards  (for  the  French  seem  to  take  by  instinct 
to  the  cultivation  of  the  vine),  and  fields  of  wheat  and 
barley.  I  observed  along  the  route  what  I  thought 
were  haystacks,  but  was  told  that  they  were  not  for 
the  food  of  cattle,  but  for  the  service  of  man  in  another 
way,  being  stacks  of  a  kind  of  grass  which  is  used  as  a 
material  for  making  paper,  and  has  become  an  impor- 
tant article  of  commerce.  Do  you  say  that  all  this  put 
toirether  does  not  amount  to  much  ?  But  these  are  the 
besrinninocs  of  civilization.  These  scattered  farmhouses 
will  be  so  many  centres  for  French  emigrants,  around 
which  will  cluster  more  and  more  thatch-roofed  cottages, 
till  the  hamlet  has  become  a  village,  and  the  Province 


68  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

of  Oran  will  be  a  reproduction  of  what  one  sees  in  the 
less-peopled  parts  of  Normandy  or  Brittany. 

One  thing  struck  me  by  its  absence :  there  were  no 
great  forests,  whicli  I  ascribed  to  the  wastefulness  of  the 
Arab  population,  for  nature  has  interposed  no  obstacle  to 
their  growth.  The  soil  is  rich  and  the  climate  propitious. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  heat  of  Africa  that  should  cause 
vegetation  to  shrink  and  wither.  On  the  contrary,  per- 
haps the  world  does  not  sliow,  unless  it  be  in  the  valley 
of  the  Amazon,  a  greater  forest  than  that  of  the  Aru- 
wimi,  which  Stanley  describes.  Here,  too,  there  might 
be  the  same  illimitable  wilds.  There  are  numerous  cedar 
forests  in  other  parts  of  Algeria ;  they  grow  on  the  Aures 
Mountains  as  on  Mount  Lebanon :  why  should  the  sea- 
coast  be  stripped  and  bare?  I  can  ascribe  it  only  to  the 
wastefulness  of  the  Arabs,  who  strip  the  country  of  its 
forests,  to  burn  the  wood  for  charcoal,  with  no  attempt 
at  replacing  what  they  destroy.  Since  the  French  have 
come  in  they  have  made  large  plantations,  so  that  an- 
other generation  may  see  Algeria  transformed  into  a 
well- wooded  country ;  but,  for  the  present,  I  did  not  see, 
in  all  this  day's  ride,  a  single  forest,  nor  a  single  tree 
that  would  be  a  countr^'^'s  pride,  like  one  of  the  great 
oaks  of  England,  or  one  of  the  elms  of  America. 

One  sight  we  had,  midway  in  our  daj^'s  journey,  that 
was  very  painful :  the  dr^'ing  up  of  large  tracts  of 
country  from  the  want  of  rain.  The  cloudless  skies  of 
Africa  may  excite  the  rapture  of  poets  and  travellers, 
but  it  is  possible  to  have  too  much  of  a  good  thing  ;  and 
just  at  this  moment  the  prayer  of  the  country  is,  that  the 
windows  of  heaven  may  be  opened  and  the  floods 
descend.  Already  the  Arabs  have  no  grazing  for  their 
sheep,  that  are  likely  to  perish  by  thousands,  while  the 


FROM  TANGIER  TO   ALGIERS  69 

people  themselves  are  reduced  almost  to  the  point  of 
starvation,  so  that  collections  are  being  taken  up  in  all 
the  cities  for  their  relief. 

But  in  the  afternoon  the  country  was  less  desolate, 
and  the  scene  increased  in  beauty  as  we  travelled  farther 
to  the  east.  On  our  rio^ht  rose  the  lono:  chain  of  the 
Atlas  Mountains,  which,  as  the  sun  sank  behind  us,  took 
lights  and  shadows  that  made  us  sit  silent,  gazing  at  the 
magnificent  spectacle.  In  such  a  soft  and  tender  light 
the  evening  drew  on,  but  it  was  ten  o'clock  when  our 
train  swept  round  the  curve  of  a  beautiful  bay,  across 
which  we  saw  in  the  distance  long  rows  of  lights,  and 
soon  rolled  into  the  station  at  Algiers.  As  I  stepped 
from  the  carriage,  a  friendly  iace  looked  into  mine,  and 
the  American  Consul  took  me  by  the  hand,  and  led  the 
way  to  the  hotel,  where  I  soon  found  myself  perched  in 
an  airy  room,  with  a  balcony  from  which  I  looked  down 
into  a  square  full  of  palms. 


CHAPTER  YII 


ALGIERS 


This  African  journey  is  full  of  surprises  in  the  sharp 
contrasts  which  give  to  each  new  place  a  couleur  locale 
quite  unlike  that  of  its  predecessor.  One  cannot  imag- 
ine a  greater  change  than  that  from  Tangier  to  Algiers. 
They  have  hardly  anything  in  common,  except  that  they 
are  both  in  Africa  and  both  on  the  Mediterranean.  But 
AlgieJ's  is  a  European  city,  while  Tangier  is  distinctly 
African.  And  yet  Tangier  is  much  nearer  Europe ;  in- 
deed, it  is  in  sight  of  it.  From  my  windows  I  could  look 
across  to  the  shores  of  Spain.  But  for  all  tliat,  I  felt 
that  I  was  out  of  the  world.  But  here,  though  it  is  five 
hundred  miles  across  the  sea,  we  are  in  close  touch  with 
France  and  with  all  Europe.  Every  afternoon,  at  three 
o'clock,  the  steamer  which  left  Marseilles  the  day  before 
at  noon,  rounds  into  the  bay  ;  while  the  submarine  tele- 
graph reports  the  doings  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
which  appear  in  the  morning  papers  as  regularly,  if  not 
as  fully,  as  in  those  of  Paris  itself. 

As  Algiers,  or  the  French  part  of  it,  is  the  offspring 
of  Paris,  it  is  a  true  son  of  its  father,  whom  it  copies  in 
all  respects,  in  its  very  architecture,  as  in  its  way  of  life. 
More  than  one  long  colonnade  is  an  exact  reproduction 
of  the  E.ue  de  RivoH  ;  the  shops  and  restaurants  and 
cafes  are  almost  as  gay  as  those  on  the  banks  of  the 
Seine ;  and  as  one  sees  the  great  number  of  people  sit- 
ting round  the  tables,  sipping  their  coffee,  and  talking 


A   STREET    IN   THE    OLD    TOWN    OF  ALGIERS 


ALGIERS  71 

as  only  Frenchmen  can  talk,  he  might  easily  imagine 
himself  on  the  Boulevards. 

But  the  beauty  of  Algiers  is  not  in  its  likeness  to  Paris, 
but  rather  in  its  difference  from  it,  by  reason  of  its  lati- 
tude, which  gives  it  another  climate,  so  that  in  two  days 
one  passes  from  bleak  winter  to  a  land  where  the  sea- 
sons are  rolled  backward — or  forward — ^giving  perpetual 
spring.  The  charm  is  not  in  the  city  itself,  but  in  its 
atmosphere,  in  the  balmy  air,  in  the  palms  and  the 
flowers  that  bloom  in  midwinter;  and  in  its  surround- 
ings, the  encircling  hills,  crested  with  villas,  from  whose 
broad  verandas  look  out,  not  eastern  houris,  but  noble 
English  and  American  women,  who  in  this  land  of  the 
sun  gather  in  their  interiors  all  the  attractions  of  their 
distant  homes. 

"With  such  a  climate  it  is  not  strange  that  the  English 
in  great  numbers  leave  their  island,  wrapt  in  fog  and 
mist,  and  seek  a  winter  home  on  the  southern  shores  of 
the  Mediterranean.  I  meet  them  everywhere — in  the 
hotels,  in  the  streets,  and  on  all  the  country  roads,  driv- 
ing; or  ridino;  on  horseback,  Avhile  in  the  suburb  of 
Mustapha  Superieur  the  residences  are  largely  those 
of  the  English  colony.  The  most  beautiful  point  of 
all  is  that  occupied  by  the  British  Consul-General,  Sir 
Lambert  Playfair,  whose  house  is  naturally  the  rally- 
ing place  of  those  whom  he  so  worthily  represents,  and 
at  whose  weekly  receptions  one  is  sure  to  meet  all  that 
is  most  distinguished  among  his  countrymen  and  coun- 
try-women.* 

*  "  Lieut.-Col.  Sir  R.  Lambert  Playfair,  K.C.M.G.— Par  noUle  fra- 
frum — one  of  a  family  of  soldiers  and  savants,  is  a  name  very  familiar 
to  all  African  travellers.  As  Political  Resident  at  Aden  and  Zanzibar, 
it  was  his  lot  to  see  the  coming  and  going  of  many  of  the  most  famous 


72  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

To  me  Algiers  is  encircled  with  a  double  halo,  as  I 
have  been  here  before,  and  the  impressions  of  the  two 
visits  meet  and  mingle.  If  I  should  once  or  twice  allude 
to  what  I  saw  six  years  ago,  it  is  because  the  memory  is 
very  grateful  to  me ;  and  there  is  a  sweetness  in  the  air  as 
I  recall  scenes  and  persons  which,  though  past  and  gone, 
are  still  cherished  and  beloved.  One  figure  that  I  saw 
then  I  miss  now,  that  of  Sir  Peter  Coats,  to  whom  I 
brought  a  letter  from  Mr.  Junius  S.  Morgan  of  London. 
Sir  Peter  was  a  grand  specimen  of  the  Scotchman  of  the 
olden  time,  whose  "  good  gray  head  all  men  knew." 
His  simplicity  and  kindness  reminded  me  of  our  Peter 
Cooper,  whom  he  resembled  also  in  the  union  of  wealth 
and  benevolence,  which  had  made  his  name  as  familiar 
to  the  public  of  Great  Britain  as  is  that  of  our  philan- 
thropist to  the  people  of  America.  After  a  long  life 
devoted  to  active  pursuits,  he  felt,  as  he  approached  his 
eightieth  year,  that  he  was  not  sufficiently  rugged  to 
bear  the  Avinter  of  his  native  Scotland,  and  so  he  migrated 
like  the  birds,  and  took  refuge  in  Algiers,  where  he  had 
a  villa  high  up  on  the  hillside,  which  looked  off  upon 
one  of  the  most  enchanting  scenes  in  the  world.  In  this 
hospitable  home  I  was  always  welcome,  and  often  his 

explorei-s,  to  send  them  forth  on  their  missions,  and  to  welcome  them 
when  they  returned  to  these  '  jumping-off  places'  of  a  then  little  con- 
tinent. At  a  later  date — from  the  year  1867 — as  Consul-General  for 
Algeria,  and  for  a  time  for  Tunisia  also,  Sir  Lambert  has  not  only  been 
the  guide  and  friend  of  the  many  thousands  of  his  countrymen  who 
seek  health  in  the  French  colony,  but  by  his  long  journeys  through  the 
vast  region  with  which  he  is,  or  has  been,  officially  connected,  and  his 
many  works,  reports,  and  papei-s  descriptive  of  it,  he  takes  a  high  place 
among  those  who  have  shed  light  on  the  dark  places  of  Xorthern  Afri- 
ca."— From  "  The  Story  of  Africa,"  by  the  well-known  geographer, 
Dr.  Robert  Brown.     Published  by  Cassell,  London. 


ALGIERS  73 

carriage  was  at  the  door  of  my  hotel  to  have  me  accom- 
pany him  in  his  drives  over  the  hills. 

In  one  of  these  he  took  me  to  call  at  a  Mr.  Macleay's, 
whose  surroundings  may  show  how  these  wanderers  from 
Britain  contrive  to  make  themselves  comfortable  durinof 
the  days  of  their  absence.  We  found  him  in  the  centre 
of  a  large  estate,  some  hundreds  of  acres,  in  what  had 
once  been  a  Moorish  palace.  Though  three  hundred 
years  old,  its  walls  were  still  strong,  and,  finding  no 
occasion  to  tear  it  down,  he  reconstructed  it  in  accord- 
ance with  his  English  ideas,  having  apparently  no  end 
of  means  to  carry  out  every  desire  of  his  artistic  taste. 
Some  alterations  were  necessary  to  fit  it  for  the  use  of 
an  English  family,  its  last  occupant  having  been  a  rich 
Kabvle,  whose  large  household  required  apartments  that 
were  not  needed  for  the  present  owner's  English,  or, 
rather,  American  wife,  a  lady  from  Boston.  In  the 
arrano-ements  of  the  interior  there  was  a  minoflino:  of 
that  which  recalled  the  East  with  that  which  recalled 
the  West.  The  Oriental  architecture  was  preserved,  the 
Moorish  arches  and  the  fretted  work,  delicate  as  lace, 
and  which  looked  as  if  it  would  be  equally  soft  to  the 
touch  ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  blank  spaces  on  the 
walls  were  hung  with  pictures,  and  the  marble  pave- 
ments covered  with  Turkish  or  Persian  rugs  ;  while  the 
books  and  periodicals  on  the  tables  gave  to  the  place 
the  air  of  an  English  gentleman's  library.  In  one  of  the 
rooms  an  open  fire  was  blazing  on  the  hearth,  even  while 
the  doors  were  swung  wide,  and  palms  were  growing  in 
the  open  air.  The  court,  which  always  forms  the  centre 
of  a  Moorish  house,  was  like  a  conservatory  for  flowers, 
and  here  the  gracious  mistress  of  the  place  gave  us  a 
truly  English-American  welcome,  setting  before  us  (as  it 


74  THE  BARBAEY   COAST 

was  the  hour  of  afternoon  tea)  the  cup  which  is  at  once 
so  fragrant  and  delicious.  Thus,  in  a  Moorish  palace 
Ave  found  the  comfort,  as  well  as  the  taste  and  refine- 
ment, of  an  English  home.  With  such  an  illustration, 
we  had  to  confess  that  if,  for  reasons  of  health,  Britons 
were  banished  from  their  native  island,  they  had  com- 
pensations to  mitigate  the  pains  of  exile. 

Compared  with  this  large  English  colony  the  Ameri- 
can element  is  small.  But  there  are  always  some  of  our 
countrymen  coming  and  going,  whose  faces  it  is  pleasant 
to  see.  As  the  readiest  way  of  being  brought  in  con- 
tact with  these  birds  of  passage,  no  one  should  forget  to 
call  on  our  Consul,  Mr.  C.  T.  Grellet,  a  gentleman  Avho, 
as  his  name  implies,  is  of  French  descent,  though  born 
in  California,  where  his  father  was  among  the  "  Forty- 
Niners,"  though  he  soon  returned  to  France,  from  which 
he  removed  to  Algeria.  Thus  France  and  America  are 
united  in  the  person  of  father  and  son,  and  the  latter  is 
most  happily  fitted  by  birth  and  education  to  be  a  con- 
necting link  between  the  two  great  Republics  of  Europe 
and  America. 

To  Mr.  Grellet  I  owe  my  first  introduction  to  Algiers. 
He  went  with  me  everywhere.  One  day  he  drove  me 
out  to  Koubba,  to  pay  a  visit  to  his  father,  a  fine  old 
gentleman,  who  has  long  been  a  resident  of  the  country. 
As  it  was  Friday  (the  Mohammedan  Sunday),  the  Arab 
population  were  going  to  their  cemetery.  It  seemed  a 
strange  union  of  seclusion  and  publicity  to  see  women, 
closely  veiled  in  the  Eastern  fashion,  riding  in  an  omni- 
bus. Around  the  entrance  to  the  cemetery  they  were 
gathered  in  great  numbers,  ^o  strangers  are  admitted 
on  that  day.  This  weekly  visit  would  be,  like  the  Jour 
des  Moris  in  Paris,  very  touching,  were  it  not  that  they 


ALGIERS  75 

convert  it  into  a  kind  of  picnic,  spreading  out  their 
clothes  on  the  ground,  and  taking  their  refreshment, 
which  is  enlivened  by  the  incessant  chatter  of  Arab 
women ;  and  the  merry  laugh  goes  round,  unchecked 
by  the  solemn  presence  of  the  dead. 

A  little  farther  we  met  an  Arab  funeral.  The  body, 
uncoflSned,  but  simply  stretched  on  a  litter  and  covered 
with  a  cloth,  was  carried  by  bearers,  who  were  con- 
stantly relieved  by  others  who  pressed  forward  to  take 
the  sacred  burden.  Perhaps  a  hundred  persons  followed, 
to  the  music  of  a  mournful  chant.  The  burial  has  no 
feature  of  solemnity.  There  is  no  service  of  committal 
to  the  grave :  indeed,  there  is  no  committal  at  all ;  the 
uncoffined  dead  being  merely  shoved  into  a  kind  of  oven 
of  brick,  and  left  to  moulder  in  utter  forgetfulness.  It 
is  different  with  the  burial  of  a  marabout,  whose  sanctity 
makes  his  tomb  a  shrine  for  the  resort  of  pilgrims. 

As  we  swept  along  the  road,  a  more  beautiful  sight 
came  into  view  in  the  Jardin  d'Essai,  which  was  begun 
as  a  Jardin  d'Acclimatation,  for  the  naturalization  of 
plants  of  other  countries  and  climates,  where  one  may 
walk  under  avenues  of  bamboos,  magnolias,  and  palms. 

As  we  began  to  mount  the  hills,  there  opened  before 
us,  on  every  side,  a  view  of  exquisite  beauty.  Behind 
us  was  Algiers,  one  mass  of  white  walls,  that  glittered 
in  the  sun,  as  they  were  set  against  a  background  of 
hills,  with  the  bay  in  front,  while  on  the  horizon  stretched 
the  blue  Mediterranean.  Farther  to  the  south  was  the 
chain  of  the  Atlas  Mountains,  covered  with  suow. 
Mounting  still  higher,  we  were  on  the  top  of  the  Sahel, 
and  our  view  turned  in  another  direction — over  into  a 
broad  and  fertile  valley,  the  Metidja,  which  divides  the 
Sahel  from  the  lower  slopes  of  the  Atlas. 


76  THE   BARBARY  COAST 

Driving  up  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Grellet,  senior,  he  came 
out  to  meet  us,  and  gave  me  a  hearty  welcome.  Though 
by  birth  a  Frenchman,  he  has  lived  both  in  Korth  and 
South  America,  in  New  York,  in  Chili,  and  in  Califor- 
nia, where  he  has  left  his  heart,  for  he  thinks  it  the  best 
of  all  lands.  I  was  happy  to  tell  him  that  the  country 
round  him,  in  its  graceful  undulations,  and  especially  in 
the  feature  of  a  broad  valley  hemmed  in  by  mountains, 
reminded  me  of  Southern  California.  The  reason  of  his 
frequent  change  of  country  was  health.  Not  finding  it 
in  America,  he  returned  to  France,  but  found  no  relief 
till  he  crossed  the  Mediterranean  and  settled  in  Algeria 
twenty-five  years  ago,  where  he  has  remained  to  this 
day ;  and,  though  he  is  now  sevent3''-two,  he  is  as  hale 
and  hearty  a  man  as  one  would  wish  to  see,  and  bids 
fair  to  enjoy  life  for  years  to  come. 

Like  many  of  his  countrymen  who  came  hither  at  an 
early  day,  he  has  devoted  himself  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  vine,  and  he  took  us  out  to  see  his  vineyard.  The 
grapes  are  pressed  by  machinery — he  paying  no  heed  to 
the  fancy  of  the  old  time  that  the  wine  is  better  if  the 
grapes  are  pressed  by  the  foot.  By  the  machinery  every 
drop  is  expressed,  and  then  the  very  dregs  cut  up,  and,  as 
we  should  say,  "  mashed  "  and  pressed  again  ;  and  from 
this  residuum  is  distilled  the  spirit  that  is  put  into  the 
wine  to  keep  it,  so  that  there  is  no  ingredient  in  the  fin- 
ished product  but  that  which  is  of  the  grape  itself. 

The  place  for  pressing  the  grapes  and  storing  the 
wine  is  in  the  lowest  ground  on  the  estate,  for  the  sake 
of  coolness,  for  which  reason  the  casks  are  often  placed 
in  cellars.  In  this  case  the  cave  is  a  building  I  should 
say  a  hundred — perhaps  a  hundred  and  fifty — feet  long 
and  two  stories  high,  with  enormous  tonneaux  for  receiv- 


ALGIERS  77 

ing  the  blood  of  the  grape  from  the  press,  and  keeping 
it  till  it  is  fermented,  and  works  itself  clear,  when  it  is 
drawn  off  into  barrels  or  casks  for  exportation. 

From  this  exhibition  of  French  industry  we  drove  off 
in  another  direction  from  that  by  which  we  came,  over 
the  hills  and  through  the  valleys,  making  a  circuit  which 
took  in  every  variety  of  landscape. 

On  another  excursion  Mr.  Grellet  took  me  to  the  old 
town  of  Algiers,  which  is  a  curiosity  shop — a  labyrinth 
through  which  few  strangers  wind  from  end  to  end  so 
as  to  see  anything  of  the  interior  life  of  the  place.  Their 
guides  take  them  through  the  streets,  but  the}''  see  only 
the  outside  of  the  houses.  As  one  climbs  up  the  hill,  he 
finds  the  street  so  narrow  that  a  donkey  loaded  with 
panniers  crowds  him  to  the  wall,  and  he  declares  Old 
Algiers  to  be  a  mere  rabbit  warren,  in  which  human 
creatures  burrow,  as  animals  burrow  under  ground.  But 
all  who  have  travelled  in  the  East  know  that  in  most 
Oriental  houses  there  is  not  only  an  absence  of  show  on 
the  outside,  but  an  ostentatious  plainness,  and  even  a  look 
of  poverty,  so  as  not  to  attract  the  rapacity  of  the 
government ;  w^hile  there  may  be  not  only  comfort,  but 
laxurv,  within.  So  here  a  blank  wall  facing  the  street 
may  hide  a  cheerful  interior.  Sir  Lambert  Playfair  tells 
me  that  if  I  would  stoop  low  enough  (I  suppose  I  should 
have  to  to  bend  my  stiff  American  neck)  to  enter  the 
humble  door,  I  should  presently  come  into  a  court  open 
to  the  sk}^  and  find  that,  as  the  houses  in  Algiers  are 
built  on  a  hillside,  and  rise  one  above  another,  these 
inner  courts  are  bright,  sunny,  and  airy  ;  wiiile  the  occu- 
pants have  an  outlook  over  the  town  below,  and  beyond 
over  land  and  sea. 

One  glimpse  I  caught  of  something  bright  in  a  peep 


78  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

into  an  Arab  school,  whose  small  quarters  opened  on  the 
street,  where  a  dozen  children,  leaving  their  sandals  at 
the  door,  were  sitting  at  their  low  desks,  taking  their  les- 
sons from  the  Koran,  but  not  without  furtive  glances  at  the 
strangei-s  who  passed,  with  an  expression  which  showed 
that  they  were  by  no  means  Avanting  in  intelligence. 

The  Arab  children  are  always  bright.  In  my  fii^t 
walk  about  the  town  I  was  captured  by  the  bootblacks, 
little  fellows  who  have  all  the  cunning  of  their  tribe  as 
seen  in  European  and  American  cities.  To  their  sharp 
eyes  a  foreigner  is  an  object  of  special  attraction,  and,  as 
there  is  a  lively  competition  for  "business,"  no  sooner 
does  he  show  himself  in  the  street  than  they  set  off  in 
pursuit ;  and  as  they  run  swiftly  with  their  bare  feet, 
they  soon  bring  him  down.  It  did  not  take  them  long 
to  make  a  captive  of  me.  Who  would  not  surrender, 
with  two  of  these  little  chaps  holding  him  fast  by  his 
legs?  I  did  not  beg  for  mercy,  but  only  asked  for  a 
chair  to  sit  upon;  and  then,  dividing  myself,  gave  them  a 
leg  apiece,  and  was  soon  "  polished  off, "  so  that  I  looked 
"  quite  respectable, "  at  least  till  I  should  reach  the  next 
corner,  Avhen,  if  a  passing  carriage  should  throw  a  speck 
of  dirt  on  my  shining  boots,  it  would  be  necessary  to 
repeat  the  operation.  The  pay  for  this  service  is  one 
whole  penny  (two  sous),  which  will  buy  the  little  Arab 
enough  bread  to  last  for  the  day  ;  and  when  I  gave  them 
a  double  portion,  they  were  elated,  while  their  compan- 
ions looked  on  with  envy.  From  that  moment  I  was  well 
known  to  the  whole  tribe,  who  spotted  me  as  a  "  soft 
one;"  and  whenever  they  saw  me  coming  round  the 
corner,  or  saunterinof  alonfj  the  boulevard  that  looks  off^ 
upon  the  quay,  they  set  after  me  in  full  cr}''.  I  think 
I  never  purchased  so  much  pleasure  at  so  slight  a  cost. 


AN    ARAB    SCHOOL 


CHAPTER  VIII 


It  is  so  bewitching  to  saunter  about  the  streets  in 
this  African  sunshine,  that  one  is  apt  to  forget  that 
Algiers  was  not  always  so  attractive  to  European  vis- 
itors. For  three  hundred  years  it  was  in  the  power  of 
the  Infidel,  who  ruled  with  an  iron  hand.  The  only 
Christians  to  be  seen  were  at  work  in  the  galleys,  or 
at  some  other  kind  of  hard  labor,  or  in  the  servants' 
halls  of  great  houses,  always  in  some  menial  occupation. 
If  they  had  any  skill  as  artificers,  it  was  put  to  use  in  the 
decoration  of  the  houses  of  their  masters.  All  the  old 
palaces  of  Algiers,  among  which  are  those  of  the  Gover- 
nor and  Archbishop,  are  filled  with  elaborate  carvings  in 
wood  and  stone,  miracles  of  labor,  which  must  have  re- 
quired the  toil  of  years,  all  of  which  was  the  work  of 
Christian  slaves. 

Nor  is  it  so  long  since  this  high  carnival  of  barbarism 
had  sway,  for  it  continued  till  within  the  memory  of  men 
now  living.  It  is  only  sixty-three  years  ago  that  the  flag 
of  the  Moslem  floated  from  the  Kasbah  on  yonder  hill ! 

A  place  of  such  grim  associations  is  worth  a  visit.  It 
is  a  pretty  steep  climb,  but  not  wearisome  if  taken  in  the 
afternoon,  when  that  side  of  the  hill  is  in  shadow,  and  if 
you  make  frequent  pauses  by  the  way,  as  you  will,  to 
turn  and  look  down  upon  the  city  at  your  feet,  or  off 
upon  the  Mediterranean.  Here  is  an  open  space  that 
you  might  pass  without  notice,  if  not  told  that  it  is  the 


80  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

place  where  the  guillotine  is  set  up  for  capital  offenders. 
A  gruesome  spot,  indeed,  but  not  unworthy  of  being  kept 
in  view  among  a  turbulent  and  lawless  people.  Thus 
slowly  climbing  higher  and  higher,  you  reach  the  top, 
■when  a  glorious  outlook  bursts  upon  the  sight.  Here 
stood  the  old  castle,  now  dismantled  and  gone.  But 
what  a  history  it  has  to  make  men  shudder !  For  this  was 
the  greatest  den  of  robbers  in  the  world,  as  it  was  the 
stronghold  of  the  Barbary  pirates,  who,  from  this  head- 
land height,  kept  a  sharp  lookout  north,  east,  and  west, 
for  any  sail  that  might  show  itself  on  the  horizon.  For 
three  centuries  they  preyed  on  the  commerce  of  all 
nations.  Not  only  did  they  rob  ships  of  their  cargoes, 
but  the  unhappy  vo3^agers  were  seized  as  lawful  prey,  to 
be  subjected  to  the  most  cruel  slavery. 

The  horrors  endured  by  these  wretched  "  prisoners  and 
captives"  is  almost  beyond  belief.  The  stor\^  has  been 
told  by  Sir  Lambert  Playfair,  in  his  "  Scourge  of  Chris- 
tendom," one  of  the  most  thrilling  tales  of  suffering  in 
the  annals  of  mankind,  yet  not  without  relief  in  the 
courage  with  which  it  was  borne,  and  the  friendship  and 
devotion  which  it  called  forth.  Cases  w^ere  not  wanting 
of  those  who  became  so  bound  together  by  their  com- 
mon suffering,  that  when  one  Avas  ransomed  by  his 
kindred  at  home,  he  would  not  accept  deliverance,  refus- 
ing to  leave  his  friend  behind.  And  to  the  eternal  honor 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  be  it  remembered  that 
priests  volunteered  to  go  among  their  brethren  in  cajv 
tivity,  even  though  they  must  needs  be  themselves  en- 
slaved, so  that  they  might  give  to  others  the  consolations 
of  religion !  But  that  such  a  state  of  things  should  be 
continued  at  all  in  the  nineteenth  century  was  the  dis- 
grace of    the  civilized   world.      True,   the   danger    of 


THE  ROBBEBS'   DEN  81 

personal  capture  and  slavery  was  somewhat  reduced 
by  the  payment  of  tribute  to  the  Barbary  powers — a 
tribute  that  was  paid  by  almost,  if  not  quite,  every 
European  state — but  this  was  itself  a  confession  of 
weakness  or  want  of  courage  that  was  to  the  shame 
of  all  Christendom !  Our  own  country,  too,  paid  for  a 
time,  but  it  had  the  excuse  of  being  the  most  helpless  in 
the  case,  because  the  farthest  away.  And  to  its  honor,  be 
it  said,  it  was  the  first  power  to  refuse  to  pay  it  longer. 
In  1815  the  United  States  sent  Commodore  Decatur  to 
"  serve  notice  "  on  the  Dey  of  Algiers  that  from  that 
time  forth  we  should  pay  tribute  no  more.  The  Dey, 
seeing  that  the  American  captain  was  in  earnest,  and 
fearing  the  efi'ect  of  such  an  example,  tried  to  compro- 
mise, and  modestly  suggested  that  he  would  accept  even 
a  little  powder,  just  to  keep  up  appearances,  to  which  the 
gallant  Commodore  replied  that  "  if  he  took  the  powder, 
he  must  take  the  balls  too  ! "  a  suggestion  which  was  not 
at  all  agreeable ;  and  the  Dey  soon  made  the  best  of  a  bad 
case  by  yielding  the  point,  virtualh^  admitting  that  rather 
than  receive  that  kind  of  tribute,  he  would  receive  none 
at  all.  But  this  was  a  mere  prologue  to  the  great  drama 
that  was  now  opening,  the  chief  act  in  which  was  per- 
formed the  folloAving  year,  when  an  English  fleet  under 
Lord  Exmouth  anchored  off  the  mole,  and  laid  half  of 
the  city  in  ruins. 

Algiers  was  then  at  the  mercy  of  England,  and  some 
may  think  it  a  want  of  foresight  that,  having  possession, 
she  did  not  do  what  France  did  afterwards,  keep  it,  as 
she  has  kept  other  parts  of  the  world,  as  an  inseparable 
portion  of  the  mighty  British  Empire.  But  this  great 
inheritance  was  to  go  to  the  country  of  St.  Louis,  who, 
nearly  six  centuries  before,  had  led  a  crusade  to  Jerusa- 


82  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

lein  for  the  rescue  of  the  Holj  Sepulchre.  To  France  it 
remained  to  give  the  coup  de  grace  to  this  rehc  of  bar- 
barism. It  came  about  in  a  somewhat  dramatic  way. 
The  relations  of  the  two  powers  had  long  been  strained, 
but  with  no  rupture,  till  in  a  conference  between  the  Dey 
of  Algiers  and  the  representative  of  France,  the  former  so 
far  forgot  himself  as  to  strike  the  latter  in  the  face  with 
his  fan!  That  settled  him — not  the  Frenchman  who 
received  the  blow,  but  the  barbarian  who  gave  it.  The 
offence  was  worse  than  a  defeat,  for  every  man  in  France 
felt  as  if  he  had  been  struck  in  the  face— an  insult  that 
could  only  be  washed  out  in  blood.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  cases  in  history,  to  illustrate  the  fact 
that  great  events  may  follow  from  small  causes,  that  a 
coup  d'eventail  led  to  the  overthrow  of  a  kingdom !  In 
1830  the  French  landed  an  army,  with  orders  to  settle 
the  business  once  for  all.  The  haughty  Algerines, 
Avho,  from  the  immunity  the}^  had  enjoyed  in  centuries  of 
crime,  had  come  to  feel  sure  of  the  protection  of  Allah, 
were  somewhat  shaken  in  their  minds  as  the  bombs 
began  to  fly  over  their  city  and  to  crash  through  the 
roofs  of  the  houses.  When  at  last  they  were  compelled 
to  submit,  and  were  spared  the  further  horrors  of  bom- 
bardment, it  was  upon  the  inexorable  condition  that  they 
surrendered  their  power  forever ! 

And  so  the  old  flag  that  had  floated  over  the  Kasbah 
for  centuries  came  down,  and  the  new  flag  went  up,  and 
is  floating  there  to-day.  Never  was  there  a  greater 
victory  of  civilization  over  barbarism.  It  was  not 
merely  a  revolution :  it  was  an  earthquake ;  as  when  in 
nature  there  is  an  upheaval  of  the  solid  earth  so  com- 
plete that  the  position  of  the  different  strata  is  exactly 
reversed,  so  that  what  was  below  is  above,  and  what 


THE  robbers'  den  83 

was  above  is  below.  The  Arab  could  not  understand  it ; 
he  Avas  deprived  of  his  natural  right  to  oppress  all  who 
were  not  true  believers.  Men  whom  he  had  despised 
before,  who  had  to  get  out  of  his  way  as  he  walked  the 
street,  now  stood  erect,  calling  no  man  master.  How 
tliese  relations  Avere  changed  the  following  will  show : 
Standing  one  day  in  the  street  with  the  American  Con- 
sul, two  Jews  passed,  men  of  good  presence,  portly  and 
well  preserved,  with  blue  turbans  on  their  heads,  and 
costly  robes  flowing  to  their  feet.  Observing  the  air  of 
conscious  dignity  which  they  wore,  my  friend  remarked 
that  there  was  a  time,  and  that  not  so  very  long  ago, 
when  they  could  not  have  carried  their  heads  so  high. 
Then  no  Jew  could  ride  on  horseback ;  he  must  ride  on 
a  donkey.  If  he  approached  a  Moor,  he  must  stoop  and 
kiss  his  feet,  or  make  such  other  profound  obeisance  as 
should  be  an  acknowledgment  of  his  own  inferiority. 
Well,  well !  Those  good  old  times  are  gone,  and,  in  spite 
of  Allah  and  the  Prophet,  they  will  not  return. 

But  it  is  easier  to  conquer  than  to  govern,  and  I  some- 
times hear  doubts  expressed  as  to  the  success  of  the 
experiment  which  the  French  are  now  making  on  so 
large  a  scale  in  Africa.  "  Xo  doubt  it  is  very  fine  for 
the  French  to  be  masters  of  an  empire  in  Africa ;  but," 
says  an  American  friend,  in  the  slang  of  his  country, 
"  haven't  they  got  rather  a  big  job  on  their  hands  ? " 
Yes,  no  doubt.  The  business  of  government  is  never  a 
light  affair;  it  is  always  a  burden  and  a  responsibility. 
It  is  difficult  enough  to  govern  one's  own  country  ;  much 
more  to  govern  a  people  of  another  race,  inflamed  with 
bitter  animosity,  and  who  have  many  facilities  for  de- 
fence in  flying  to  the  desert  or  the  mountains. 

The  hatred  of  race  is  intensified  by  difference  of  reli- 


84  THE   BARBARY  COAST 

gion.  It  is  not  a  rule  over  Christians,  but  over  Moslems, 
with  whom  old  laws  and  customs,  founded  on  the  Koran, 
have  acquired  the  force  of  nature  and  the  sacredness  of 
religion.  Xowhere  is  it  more  necessary  to  ''  walk  softly," 
for  there  is  a  sleeping  devil  in  every  native ;  and  these 
old  bearded  Arabs,  who  seem  very  dull  and  slumberous 
as  they  sit  cross-legged  and  motionless,  smoking  their 
long  pipes,  may  be  roused,  by  appeal  to  race  hatred  and 
religious  fanaticism,  to  a  holy  war.  The  population  is 
composed  of  elements  in  which  there  is  constant  danger. 
As  it  is  divided  into  tribes,  each  with  a  sheik  at  its  head, 
these  may  easily  be  converted  into  so  many  military 
organizations.  Here  is  a  magazine  of  gunpowder  that 
may  be  exploded  by  the  touch  of  a  fanatic. 

But  the  greater  the  difficulty,  the  greater  the  skill  of 
the  statesman  who  can  not  only  subdue,  but  conciliate, 
an  adverse  population ;  and  this,  I  think,  the  French 
have  done  here  in  a  degree  that  shows  a  genius  for  gov- 
ernment as  marked,  if  not  shown  on  so  grand  a  scale,  as 
that  of  the  British  in  India. 

When  I  came  to  Algiers  six  years  since,  I  came  by  way 
of  Spain,  and  in  Madrid  met  the  French  Ambassador,* 
Avho  had  just  come  from  Africa,  where  he  had  been 
the  Resident  of  Tunis,  and  he  talked  freely  about  the 
political  situation,  telling  me  how  he  had  conciliated  the 
good  will  of  the  natives  by  a  scrupulous  respect  to  their 
customs,  and,  above  all,  to  their  religious  observances. 
He  did  not  allow  a  European  to  put  his  foot  in  a 
mosque.  In  this  he  followed  out  the  policy  of  the 
French  Government,  which  holds,  or  professes  to  hold,  a 


*  M.  Cambon,  now  Ambassdor  iu  Turkey,  and  brother  of  the  present 
Governor  of  Algeria. 


THE  robbers'  den  85 

position  of  absolute  neutrality  between  all  faiths,  even 
going  so  far  as  to  support  those  who  officiate  in  the 
mosques,  on  the  principle  of  supporting  all  forms  of 
religious  worship ;  maintaining  Protestant  pastors  and 
Jewish  rabbis,  as  well  as  CathoHc  priests. 

When  I  left  Madrid  he  gave  me  a  letter  to  M.  Tirman, 
then  Governor  of  Algeria,  on  whom  I  called  to  pay  my 
respects.  For  a  long  time  after  the  French  took  posses- 
sion of  the  country,  it  had  been  the  custom  to  choose  a 
soldier  for  governor,  with  the  idea  that  he  might  have 
military  duties  to  perform.  The  place  had  been  held  by 
Marshal  de  MacMahon,  and  by  the  Duke  d'Aumale,  and 
I  expected  to  see  a  marshal  of  France  in  the  governor's 
palace,  or  at  least  an  officer  of  high  rank ;  and  was  a  lit- 
tle surprised,  when  introduced  into  his  private  cabinet, 
to  find  a  very  quiet  gentleman,  absorbed  in  the  details 
of  his  extensive  and  difficult  administration.  He  was 
extremely  courteous,  and  gave  me  a  hearty  welcome  to 
the  country,  offering  me  any  service  in  his  power  to 
render  m\'  visit  a  pleasant  one.  I  had  no  service  to  ask, 
but  was  glad  of  the  opportunity  of  seeing  the  man  who 
held  a  position  in  Africa  with  more  power  than  the 
Khedive  of  Egypt. 

He  told  me  that  the  country  over  which  he  ruled  Avas 
nearly  as  large  as  France ;  and  even  though  half  of  it 
were  desert,  yet  the  half  which  was  not  desert,  and 
parts  of  "which  were  extremely  fertile,  would  make  a 
number  of  French  provinces.  It  contained  a  population 
of  three  and  a  half  millions,  to  govern  which  was  far 
more  difficult  than  to  govern  an  equal  number  in  France 
itself,  where  there  was  a  homogeneous  population.  He 
had  been  governor  for  six  3' ears,  and  had  thus  had  oppor- 
tunity to  become  well  acquainted  with  the  country  and 


86  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

the  people.  lie  did  not  conceal  from  himself  the  diflB- 
culty  of  French  rule  in  Africa.  But  the  veiy  caution 
■with  which  he  spoke,  the  clearness  with  which  he  stated 
the  difficulties,  and  the  means  by  which  they  were  to  be 
met,  seemed  to  furnish  the  best  proof  that  he  was  well 
prepared  for  a  position  of  such  vast  responsibilit3\ 

As  the  danger  to  the  French  rule  lies  in  the  division  of 
the  people  into  tribes,  each  with  its  own  head  forming 
an  imperiiim  in  impetno,  it  is  the  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  limit  the  authority  of  the  sheiks,  not  by  directly 
displacing  them,  but  by  relieving  them  of  the  cares  of 
government  in  certain  districts,  which  are  turned  over 
to  French  administrateurs.  This  neutralizes  the  power 
of  the  native  chiefs,  and  removes  one  great  danger  to 
the  French  Government  in  Africa. 

To  disarm  still  further  the  hostility  of  the  native  popu- 
lation, many  of  the  most  athletic  young  men  in  the  tribes, 
such  as  might  be  leaders  in  a  rebellion,  are  enlisted  in  the 
army,  not  in  regiments  of  the  line,  but  as  special  troops 
for  special  duty,  of  which  the  Tiralleurs  Indigenes,  or 
Turcos,  are  infantry ;  wiiile  the  Spahis  form  a  body  of 
irregular  cavahy.  Both  are  very  picturesque,  and  I  doubt 
not  would  make  good  soldiers  in  the  field.  The  Spahis, 
especially,  are  what  may  be  called  a  natural  product  of 
the  desert.  They  may  almost  be  said  to  have  been  born 
in  the  saddle,  accustomed  as  they  are  from  early  boy- 
hood to  the  wild  riding  of  the  plains,  which  makes  them 
as  much  at  home  on  horseback  as  the  Cossacks  of  Russia 
or  our  American  Indians.  When  the}''  visit  Paris,  crowds 
rush  to  the  Champ  de  Mars  to  witness  their  magnificent 
horsemanship.     Of  course  they  make  splendid  cavalry. 

But  this  training  of  so  many  thousands  of  natives  to 
arms  would  be  in  itself  a  new  danger,  were  not  the 


THE  robbers'  den  87 

greatest  precautions  taken  that  the  skill  and  power  thus 
attained  should  not  be  turned  on  the  wrong  side.  To 
this  end  all  the  officers  of  rank  are  French  ;  and  as  they 
keep  in  their  hands  the  arsenals,  together  with  the  strong 
fortresses  in  the  mountains,  the  danger  of  insurrection, 
if  not  entirely  removed,  is  very  greatly  reduced. 

But  no  government  is  strong  that  relies  on  mere  brute 
force.  Force  must  be  tempered  with  wisdom.  In  the 
exercise  of  power  over  races  that  are  jealous  and  suspi- 
cious, there  is  need  of  all  the  French  tact  and  courtesy. 
The  iron  hand  is  none  the  less  firm  for  being  hidden  in 
a  velvet  glove.  Absolute  justice  to  the  native  popula- 
tion will  make  them  recognize  the  advantage  to  them- 
selves of  a  government  under  which  they  are  free,  and 
which  yet  is  strong  enough  to  give  them  perfect  protec- 
tion. Law  founded  in  justice,  and  enforced  by  power, 
will  conquer  the  world. 


CHAPTER  IX 


IN   GKAHD   KABYLIA 


Of  the  travellers  who  cross  the  Mediterranean,  the 
greater  part  make  the  city  of  Algiers  the  beginning 
and  end  of  their  journey  in  Africa ;  whereas  it  ought  to 
be  neither  the  beginning  nor  end,  but  only  the  middle. 
He  who  comes  from  Tangier  and  Oran  has  seen  much ; 
but  he  who  keeps  on  to  Constantine  and  Tunis  will  see 
more.  Indeed,  it  is  not  until  one  has  passed  Algiers,  on 
his  way  to  the  East,  that  he  sees  what  is  most  grand  in 
African  scenerj^-.  In  coming  from  Oran  we  saw  moun- 
tains, but  only  at  a  distance;  but  now  we  are  to  be 
among  them,  as  in  passing  through  Switzerland  we  are 
among  the  Alps. 

It  was  in  the  early  morning,  while  the  stars  Avere  still 
shining,  that  we  glided  out  from  under  the  terrace  at 
Algiers,  passing  over  the  same  route  by  which  we  had 
come,  for  there  is  but  one  railway  approach  to  the  city. 
As  we  swept  round  the  bay,  I  kept  Avatch,  from  the  win- 
dow, of  the  long  line  of  lights,  that  seemed  as  if  they 
were  but  a  reflection  of  the  stars  above  in  the  waters 
below.  It  was  not  till  we  were  quite  out  of  the  city 
that  we  came  to  the  parting  of  the  Avays,  and  turned 
eastAvard.  Though  it  was  not  yet  day,  the  light  AA'as 
beginning  to  show  itself  on  the  horizon,  and  at  length 
the  sun  rose  Avithout  a  cloud — the  sun  of  Africa — as  if 
to  welcome  us  to  another  part  of  his  dominions. 

In  leaving  Algiers,  as  in  leaving  Oran,  we  soon  take 


IN  GRAND  KABYLIA  89 

leave  of  the  sea.  A  passage  along  the  coast  would  be 
obstructed  by  the  mass  of  mountains.  As  it  is,  we  shall 
have  to  pierce  them  at  many  points,  always  seeking,  of 
course,  the  lowest  level,  but  still  checked  and  baffled  by 
projecting  spurs,  in  compassing  which,  if  we  cannot 
climb  over  them,  we  shall  be  obliged  to  wind  round 
them,  or  to  creep  under  them  by  the  innumerable  tunnels 
"we  shall  enter  before  the  day  is  over. 

After  two  or  three  hours  we  enter  a  hill  country, 
where  the  French  settlements  are  less  frequent  tban 
nearer  the  coast.  And  yet,  sometimes,  as  we  mount  a 
summit,  we  look  down  into  a  deep  valley  where  a  little 
hamlet  nestles  under  a  rustic  church,  and  in  the  shadow 
of  the  church  is  a  cemetery  (how  lonely  it  seems  in  the 
mountains!)  in  which  the  crosses  at  the  head  of  the 
humble  graves  show  that  those  who  died  here,  far  from 
their  beloved  France,  received  Christian  burial. 

Another  hour  and  we  have  mounted  higher  still,  from 
the  hills  to  the  mountains,  till  we  are  suddenly  plunged 
into  a  gorge  that  would  be  notable  in  Switzerland  or  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  This  is  the  gorge  of  Palgestro, 
where  the  mountains  are  cut  in  twain  by  a  river  that 
rushes  and  roars,  far  below  us,  over  its  rocky  bed. 

To  cut  a  passage  through  this  rugged  country  was  a 
work  of  enormous  difficulty,  but  it  was  a  military  neces- 
sity if  the  French  were  to  keep  possession  of  the  country. 
If  they  were  to  remain  masters  of  Algeria,  they  must 
hold  the  passes  of  the  mountains,  the  home  of  a  people 
who  had  shown,  in  1871,  how  formidable  they  might  be. 
To  overawe  these  mountain  warriors,  the  French  must 
be  able  to  get  at  them  ;  and  for  this  purpose  they  built 
a  macadamized  road  through  this  gorge,  and  over  the 
mountains,  which  is  as  perfect  in  its  construction  as  that 


90  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

which  the  first  Napoleon  built  over  the  Siraplon.  And 
now  that  magnificent  highway  is  supplemented  by  an 
iron  road,  which  seems  to  have  been  built  with  as  little 
regard  to  cost  as  if  it  had  been  in  the  most  densely 
populated  part  of  France.  Like  a  road  in  the  Alps,  it 
had  to  be  guarded,  if  not  against  avalanches,  at  least 
against  the  melting  of  snow,  which  sets  in  motion  floods 
that  pour  down  the  mountains  with  such  fury  as  to 
sweep  away  all  but  the  most  solidly  constructed  works 
of  man.  The  bridges  had  to  be  carried  at  a  great 
height,  sometimes  a  hundred  feet  above  the  chasms 
below.  But  they  seem  to  have  taken  precautions  against 
all  dangers.  The  bridges  are  of  iron,  which  opposes 
less  surface  to  the  rush  of  waters  than  massive  arches  of 
stone.  For  long  distances  the  road  is  supported  by 
enormous  embankments,  and  where  there  is  no  project- 
ing rock  or  earth  for  these  to  stand  on,  tunnels  are  cut 
through  the  heart  of  the  mountains. 

All  this  indicates  that  the  French  in  Algeria  have  come 
to  stay.  The  only  drawback  to  this  is  not  physical,  but 
moral ;  it  is  in  the  French  themselves,  who,  if  they  sub- 
mit for  a  time  to  expatriation,  are  alwaj'^s  sighing  for 
lapatrie. 

At  Palaestro  there  entered  the  railway  compartment  a 
Frenchman  and  his  wife,  who,  instead  of  taking  seats, 
remained  standing,  looking  out  of  the  window  on  one 
side  and  the  other.  I  soon  discovered  that  he  was  the 
engineer  to  whom  had  been  entrusted  the  building 
of  the  bridges  which  I  had  been  admiring,  and  I  paid 
him  compliments  on  his  splendid  woi'k,  expressing  the 
hope  that  he  would  live  to  see  all  these  mountain  valleys 
filled  by  a  French  population ;  to  which  Madame  quickly 
replied,  "But  we  hope  to  return  to  France."     "Ali, 


IN   GRAND  KABYLIA  91 

yes,"  said  the  husband,  "  there  is  but  one  France."  It 
is  this  lonffino;  for  the  old  home  that  makes  it  difficult 
for  the  French  to  become  good  colonists.  But,  in  spite 
of  all  this,  the  line  of  the  railroad  is  bordered  by  a  num- 
ber of  villages,  peopled  by  emigrants  from  Alsace  and 
Lorraine,  who,  driven  from  their  own  homes  by  the 
German  possession  of  the  Ehine,  can  here  sing  the  Mar- 
seillaise amid  the  mountains  of  Africa. 

But  the  country  before  us  soon  engages  our  attention. 
The  gorge  of  Palgestro  marks  a  geographical  division, 
the  ridore  of  the  mountain  which  overhangs  it  being  the 
dividing  line  between  the  Arabs  and  the  Kabyles.  On  the 
western  side  are  the  Arabs,  while  on  the  eastern,  which 
we  are  entering,  are  the  Kabyles,  so  that  we  are  now 
in  Grand  Kabylia,  the  Switzerland  of  Africa.  True,  the 
mountains  are  not  so  high  as  the  Alps,  but  they  are  like 
them  in  that,  instead  of  forming  a  continuous  chain,  like 
the  Pyrenees  or  Apennines,  they  stand  apart,  as  separate 
peaks,  whose  conical  shape  indicates  that  they  are  old 
volcanoes,  whose  fires  burned  out  long  ago,  and  over 
which  have  grown  great  forests,  while  the  "  wild  tor- 
rents, fiercely  glad,"  pour  down  the  mountain  sides ;  and 
if  there  be  nothing  to  equal  the  Matterhorn  or  the  Jung- 
frau,  there  is  yet  many  a  wild  pass  and  rugged  height  to 
tempt  the  Alpine  climber. 

If  it  will  give  an  additional  zest  to  his  mountain- 
eering to  carry  a  gun,  he  may  find  an  abundance  of 
game  to  exercise  his  skill.  An  old  French  officer,  who 
came  into  our  compartment,  told  me  that  a  daring  hunter 
may,  or  might,  not  long  ago,  have  had  a  chance  of  shoot- 
ing a  panther  (or  leopard) ;  or  even,  now  and  then,  of  stir- 
ring up  an  African  lion  !  Of  course,  the  advance  of  civili- 
zation drives  the  king  of  beasts  farther  back  into  the 


92  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

recesses  of  the  mountains  ;  and  j^et  a  Hungarian  gentle- 
man, who  was  a  fellow-traveller,  told  me  that,  even  since 
the  Franco-Prussian  war,  two  of  his  cousins  spent  three 
months  here  in  Kabj'lia,  in  company  with  the  famous 
Jules  Gerard,  hunting  lions.  This  royal  game  has  nearly 
disappeared  since  the  Government  offered  a  reward  for 
every  lion  that  was  killed ;  but  there  are  still  panthers, 
which  sometimes  come  about  the  villages,  and  snap  up 
the  dogs.  Nor  need  the  most  adventurous  huntsman 
despise  this  as  inferior  game,  for,  said  my  informant, 
"  the  panthers  grow  to  enormous  size ;  some  have  been 
shot,  measuring  almost  as  long  as  tigers." 

In  default  of  lions  or  panthers,  an  ordinary  sportsman 
may  have  to  content  himself  with  shooting  or  spearing 
wild  boars.  Monkeys,  too,  are  here  in  great  numbers. 
"  Do  you  see  that  mountain  yonder? "  said  the  officer, 
pointing  to  a  peak  in  the  distance,  "  it  is  given  up  to  the 
monkeys  :  they  may  almost  be  said  to  be  its  only  inliabi- 
tants  ;  the  woods  are  full  of  them  ! "  But  to  shoot  them 
would  be  almost  a  massacre  of  the  innocents,  or  of  the 
lower  members  of  the  human  family.  "  Pray,  do  not," 
says  a  friend,  "  encourage  the  slaughter  of  our  far-away 
cousins ! " 

But  more  interesting  than  boars  and  monke3's,  or  even 
panthers  or  lions,  are  the  people  who  inhabit  these  moun- 
tains. The  Kabyles  are  quite  different  from  the  Arabs 
— different  in  origin,  in  features,  and  in  language.  The 
Arabs  are  comparatively  new-comers,  having  come  into 
Northern  Africa  with  the  Moslem  invasion,  while  the 
Kabyles  are  supposed  to  be  the  descendants  of  the 
ancient  Mauritanians,  who  were  here  before  the  Romans, 
and  even  before  the  Carthaginians.  With  all  the  mix- 
tures of  foreign  blood,  they  still  show  the  peculiarities  of 


IN  GRAND  KABYLIA  93 

their  race.  The  Arabs  are  taller  and  more  slender; 
more  Aviry  and  nervous ;  the  Kabyles  are  shorter  and 
"stockier,"   better  suited  to  hard  labor. 

The  Kabyles  are  a  very  warlike  people,  a  character 
which  they  inherit  from  their  ancestors.  There  seems  to 
be  a  fitness  of  things,  a  correspondence  to  nature,  in  that 
a  wild  and  savage  country,  long  the  habitation  of  lions, 
should  be  also  the  home  of  a  people  as  brave  as  lions, 
who  from  time  immemorial  have  fought  for  their  inde- 
pendence. When  the  Romans,  after  destroying  Car- 
thage, pursued  their  conquests  westward,  along  !N^orthern 
Africa,  they  came  to  a  mountain  region  in  which  nature 
itself  opposed  their  advance,  held  by  tribes  whose  cour- 
age long  kept  them  at  bay ;  and  though  the  country''  was 
reckoned  a  part  of  their  African  empire,  they  prudently 
left  a  good  deal  of  liberty  to  these  fierce  warriors  as  an 
untamed  and  untamable  race. 

The  Arab  conquest  swept  over  Africa,  but  left  them 
still  in  possession  of  their  mountains,  and,  to  a  great 
degree,  of  their  freedom.  They  became  Moslems,  yet 
they  took  even  their  religion  in  a  somewhat  free  and 
independent  way.  They  would  be  no  man's  slave. 
They  clung  to  their  mountain  homes,  instead  of  follow- 
ing their  new  masters  into  the  desert,  and  retained 
many  of  their  ancient  customs,  their  women  never  veil- 
ing their  faces  after  the  manner  of  the  East.  Such  were 
the  Berbers,  so  famous  in  the  history  of  Northern  Africa ; 
and  such  are  their  descendants,  the  Kabyles  of  to-da3^ 

In  the  many-colored  population  of  Algiers  the  stranger 
recognizes  a  variety  of  African  races,  with  others  that 
show  traces  of  an  Asiatic  origin,  most  of  which  he  can 
make  out,  as  to  what  they  are  and  where  they  came 
from  ;  but  he  is  a  good  deal  puzzled  by  one  that  is  neither 


94  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

white  nor  black,  but  of  a  light-brown  or  olive  complex- 
ion— a  race  that  stands  apart,  with  its  own  language  and 
its  separate  communities,  governed  by  its  own  laws  and 
institutions.  These  are  the  Kabyles,  the  children  of  yon- 
der mountains — a  people  of  fiery  and  impetuous  nature, 
ardent  lovers  and  bitter  haters,  hard  workers  and  terrible 
fighters,  as  they  have  shown  in  a  hundred  wars,  from 
the  davs  of  the  Romans  to  the  last  insurrection  against 
the  French.  American  readers  may  be  interested  to  read 
a  little  more  of  this  country  and  people. 

My  first  introduction  to  them  was  by  Mr.  Grellet,  the 
father  of  our  Consul,  when  he  took  me  over  his  vineyard 
of  several  hundred  acres,  which  is  cultivated  wholly  by 
Kabyles ;  a  hundred  of  them  were  at  work  at  that  very 
moment.  They  were  alert  and  active  fellows,  of  middle 
stature,  lightly  yet  strongly  built,  with  frames  all  nerve 
and  muscle,  in  which  toughness  was  combined  Avith  agil- 
ity. Their  eyes  were  bright,  and,  as  they  recognized  a 
stranger,  they  looked  up  in  my  face  with  a  pleased  ex- 
pression, that  was  in  itself  a  kindly  greeting.  Mr.  Grel- 
let said  they  were  excellent  laborers.  It  was  evident 
that  they  were  in  the  best  relations  with  their  employer, 
whom  they  never  passed  Avithout  a  "  Bon  jour  !  "  which 
was  perhaps  all  the  French  they  knew.  I  was  at  once 
struck  with  the  difference  in  their  physique,  or,  perhaps  I 
should  say,  in  their  carriage,  from  the  Arabs,  who  are 
more  picturesque  in  appearance,  and  carry  themselves 
more  proudly ;  while  the  Kabyles  have  more  stuff  in 
them  for  work,  and  are  read}^  to  turn  their  hands  to  any- 
thing, even  if  they  have  to  stoop  to  the  lowest  drudgery. 
As  it  was  in  the  winter  season,  the}'^  were  busy  in  grub- 
bing up  the  old  roots,  clearing  out  worthless  stocks,  or 
those  which  had  been  touched  by  any  insect  pest  (not 


IN   GRAND   KABYLIA  95 

the  phylloxera,  Avhich  has  not  yet  made  its  appearance 
here),  or  preparing  shoots  for  planting  elsewhere,  as  Mr. 
Grellet  had  an  order  for  four  hundred  thousand  shoots 
for  Tunis.  They  take  naturally  to  the  labors  of  the  field, 
in  which  they  are  a  perfect  contrast  to  the  Arabs,  who 
look  upon  such  labor  as  a  degradation,  and  even  hire  the 
Kabyles  to  do  Avork  which  they  are  too  lazy  to  do  them- 
selves. The  Arab  is  at  home  on  his  steed,  scourinsr  the 
desert,  while  the  Kaby le  is  never  seen  on  horseback. 
He  is  content  to  go  on  foot,  and  is  not  ashamed  of 
honest  labor ;  he  earns  his  money  in  the  sweat  of  his 
brow,  and,  what  is  better,  he  knows  how  to  keep  it.  They 
are  a  thrifty  folk,  living  on  little,  and  saving  every  hard- 
earned  penny. 

"  How  much  do  you  pay  them  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Two  francs  and  a  quarter  [forty-five  cents]  a  day." 

That  may  seem  small  pay  to  American  laborers,  but 
it  is  good  wages  in  Africa.  All  depends  on  what  it  will 
bring.  A  French  ouvrier  would  eat  and  drink  it  all  up, 
for  he  must  have  his  meat  every  day,  and  his  bottle  of 
wine  ;  while  the  Kabyle  is  content  to  do  Avithout  either, 
and  thus  saves  nearly  three-quarters  of  all  he  earns.  He 
is  a  true  economist ;  he  has  made  it  a  matter  of  exact 
calculation,  and  reduced  the  art  of  living  to  a  minimum. 
One  who  knows  them  well  said  to  me :  "  A  Kabyle  will 
live  on  twelve  sous  a  day,  two  of  which  he  will  spend  in 
tobacco,  his  only  luxury." 

"These  men,"  said  Mr.  Grellet,  "live  almost  wholly 
on  bread.  Meat  the}'^  do  not  touch  unless  it  be  on  some 
special  occasion,  such  as  a  Moslem  feast.  Every  morn- 
ing the  Kabyle  cuts  off  his  portion  of  bread  for  the  da3\ 
Sometimes  he  will  cut  out  the  inside  of  a  loaf,  and  put  it 
to  soak  in  olive  oil,  which  is  here  so  abundant  and  so 


96  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

cheap,  and  this  makes  a  nutritious  food ;  and  if,  with  the 
two  sous  for  tobacco,  he  can  spare  one  sou  more  for  a 
small  cup  of  the  black  coffee  of  which  he  is  very  fond, 
he  asks  heaven  for  no  more.  This  is  his  daily  portion  ; 
but  if  to-morrow  should  be  a  rainy  day,  so  that  he  could 
not  work,  he  would  not  give  himself  the  same  allowance, 
and  consume  a  whole  day's  provision,  for  that  would  be 
eating  his  bread  before  he  had  earned  it,  and  so  encroach- 
ing on  his  little  capital.  He  will  cut  a  day's  portion  in 
two,  and  go  on  half-rations  for  two  days,  so  that  he  can 
*  start  even  '  on  the  third ! " 

American  laborers,  who  are  the  most  wasteful  in 
the  world,  may  think  this  a  petty  economy,  which 
shows  a  miserly  spirit.  "Why  do  not  these  poor  fel- 
lows do  as  Ave  do,  and  enjoy  their  earnings  as  they 
go?  "What  is  the  use  of  all  this  saving  and  hoard- 
ing?" So  little  do  we  know  of  what  is  stirring  in 
these  dusky  bosoms. 

As  we  stood  looking  at  the  different  groups,  which 
were  not  only  very  busy,  but  very  happy,  Mr.  Grellet 
said  to  me  :  "  Every  one  of  these  men,  to  the  youngest 
[for  some  of  them  were  little  more  than  stout  boys],  has 
the  ambition  to  earn  a  few  hundred  francs,  with  which 
he  will  go  back  to  his  native  village  and  buy  him  a 
wife!"  Indeed!  and  so  the  fire  of  love  is  burning  in 
these  African  breasts.  It  is  the  old  story  of  Jacob  serv- 
ing seven  years  for  Rachel.  Love  cannot  have  its  re- 
ward without  toil.  No  maiden  wastes  her  affections  on 
an  impecunious  lover.  A  man  must  pay  "  the  old  gen- 
tleman "  for  the  hand  of  his  daughter.  It  may  not  be  in 
money,  but  in  sheep  or  camels,  though  the  thrifty  father 
likes  to  see  the  shining  pieces  of  precious  metal.  On  one 
occasion,  at  a  hotel  in  the  interior,  I  paid  a  bill  in  napo- 


IN  GRAKD   KABYLIA  97 

leons,  at  seeing  which  the  landlord  said  that  there  was 
but  little  gold  in  the  country  ;  that  whenever  a  Kabyle 
got  hold  of  a  piece,  he  hoarded  it  against  the  day  when 
he  might  wish  to  buy  him  a  wife,  trusting  that,  if  the 
old  man  would  not  take  a  camel,  his  heart  might  be 
softened  by  sight  of  the  glittering  coin.  This  bit  of  in- 
formation caused  me  to  look  with  new  interest  into  the 
bright  faces  before  me.  I  saw  that  the  laborer  of  the 
Sahel,  in  the  midst  of  his  toil,  was  dreaming  dreams  of  a 
cottage  in  the  mountains,  and  of  the  little  group  that  in 
time  would  gather  round  the  door. 

"  And  how  much  does  one  of  these  mountain  maidens 
cost?" 

"  Cela  depend.  A  man  may  get  a  common-looking 
girl  for  a  hundred  francs  [twenty  dollars],  but  the  more 
handsome — and  some  of  them  are  very  pretty — are 
much  higher.  One  of  my  men  had  saved,  in  the  course 
of  two  or  three  years,  six  hundred  francs,  all  of  which  he 
paid  for  his  bride.  He  did  not  begrudge  the  money,  for 
she  was  the  fairest  of  her  village,  and  in  her  he  saw  the 
mother  of  a  son  who  would  be  the  pride  of  his  old  age. 
But  just  as  he  was  looking  for  his  first-born,  to  his  bitter 
disappointment  the  son  proved  to  be  a  daughter !  And 
when  this  happened  a  second  time,  I  believe,  if  the 
neighbors  had  not  interfered,  he  would  have  killed  her ! " 
So  the  ardor  of  love  may  be  dampened  by  circumstances 
not  under  control. 

"  And  do  you  trust  these  men  perfectly  ?  "  I  asked.  ■ 

"  Yes  and  Xo !  Thej^  are  good,  faithful  fellows,  indus- 
trious and  honest,  according  to  their  ideas  of  honesty. 
But  in  the  time  of  the  vintage,  when  the  grapes  are  to 
be  gathered,  I  have  to  employ  two  hundred  men,  and 
then  I  must  keep  a  sharp  watch.  It  will  not  do  to  leave 
7 


98  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

anything  of  value  about,  for  they  will  take  it  with- 
out a  moment's  hesitation,  thinking  that  Allah  has  put 
it  in  their  way,  and  that  it  would  be  a  disregard  of  his 
gifts  to  neglect  the  opportunity.  Everything  is  thrown 
upon  Allah.  He  is  not  only  the  inspirer  of  all  good 
deeds,  but  the  scape-goat  for  all  bad  ones.  I  had  a 
Kabyle  who  was  a  good  laborer,  but  w^ho  had  an  incur- 
able habit  of  petty  thieving.  He  would  steal  without 
any  motive,  taking  what  he  could  have  had  for  the  ask- 
ing ;  and  when  I  charged  him  with  it  and  said,  '  Whj^ 
do  you  steal  what  you  can  have  without  stealing?  You 
know  that  I  would  give  you  all  the  grapes  you  want,'  he 
was  not  at  all  abashed,  but  threw  off  the  responsibility 
by  saying  that '  Allah  made  him  steal  it ! '" 

This  lying  and  stealing  are  such  contemptible  vices  that 
an  Anglo-Saxon  cannot  understand  how  they  can  co- 
exist with  anything  that  is  worthy  of  respect.  And  yet 
these  very  men  have  many  noble  traits,  and  belong  to 
one  of  the  bravest  races  in  the  world. 

As  they  are  not  only  brave,  but  quick  to  resent  an 
injury,  they  furnish  an  inflammable  material  that  may 
flame  out  suddenly  into  insurrection  ;  and  w^hat  fighters 
they  can  be  they  showed  in  the  insurrection  of  1871. 
Mr.  Grellet  was  at  that  time  in  Algeria,  and  I  asked  him 
if  he  was  in  danger  ? 

"  No,"  he  said, "  the  insurrection  did  not  come  this  side 
the  mountains." 

"  And  is  there  any  danger  now  ? " 

"  I  think  not.  We  are  too  near  Algiers,  where  there  is 
always  a  large  body  of  French  troops ;  but  still  you  can- 
not be  sure  of  anything  with  races  that  are  so  excit- 
able. You  cannot  restrain  them  from  revolt  by  showing 
them  that  the  attempt  would  be  hopeless.     They  recog- 


IN   GKAND   KABYLIA  99 

nize  the  power  of  France,  because  they  see  French 
soldiers  in  the  streets ;  but  if  it  were  not  for  this,  it 
Avould  be  very  difficult  to  give  them  an  idea  of  a  power 
that  is  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea.  Even  as  it  is,  you 
cannot  convince  them  that  they  are  not  really  stronger 
than  their  masters,  whom  they  could  '  wipe  out '  if  they 
had  a  mind  to.  This  confidence  in  themselves  is  kept 
up  by  religious  fanaticism.  The  Kabyles,  though  not  so 
fanatical  as  the  Arabs,  are  still  greatly  under  the  influ- 
ence of  their  priests,  and  think  that  a  marabout  (the 
descendant  of  a  Moslem  saint)  has  some  mysterious  and 
irresistible  power.  One  day  I  was  talking  with  a  Kabyle, 
who  was  old  enough  to  have  good  sense,  and  I  said 
to  him,  '  How  is  it  that  you  dare  to  make  war  against 
France,  that  has  an  army  larger  than  your  whole  popula- 
tion?' ']^o  matter  for  that,'  said  the  fiery  old  moun- 
taineer ;  '  what  do  we  care  for  your  armies  ?  If  one  of 
our  marabouts  were  to  wave  a  stick  at  them  and  pro- 
nounce a  curse  upon  them,  he  could  sweep  them  all  into 
the  sea.' "  It  did  not  seem  to  occur  to  him  as  somewhat 
remarkable,  that,  if  one  holy  man  had  such  power,  all  of 
them  together,  raging  and  cursing,  and  stirring  up  the 
tribes  to  put  forth  their  utmost  strength,  did  not  produce 
more  impression,  but  had  finally  to  give  in  and  make 
their  submission  to  the  French  !  However,  it  is  best  not 
to  ask  too  many  questions.  There  is  no  reasoning  with 
fanaticism.  Putting  aside  all  foolish  boasting,  no  one 
who  has  seen  the  Kabyles,  and  least  of  all  those  who 
fought  against  them,  will  dispute  the  courage  which  has 
been  proved  on  so  many  fields  of  battle. 

The  Alpine  character  of  this  region  is  increased  by 
the  snows  upon  the  mountains.  These  do  not  remain 
through  the  year,  for  the  mountains  of  Kabylia  are  not 


100  THE  BARBAKY   COAST 

SO  high  as  the  Alps ;  but  it  is  now  midwinter,  and  they 
are  mantled  in  white  far  down  their  sides. 

Those  who  have  penetrated  into  the  interior  of  Kaby- 
lia  give  the  most  picturesque  descriptions  of  its  mingled 
Avildness  and  beauty.  As  they  go  farther  into  it,  the 
mountains  rise  higher  and  the  valleys  sink  deeper.  In 
some  places  it  seems  as  if  the  mountains  had  been  cleft 
asunder  by  some  convulsion  of  nature,  and  tremendous 
cliffs  stand  facing  each  other,  parted  by  gorges  of  almost 
unfathomable  depth,  down  which  the  torrents  roar,  while 
the  eagles  soar  and  scream  over  the  abyss. 

There,  in  those  wild  mountains,  is  the  home  of  the 
Kabyles  ;  for  homes  they  have,  to  which  they  cling  with 
all  the  fondness  habitual  to  mountain  tribes.  In  this, 
again,  their  life  is  in  contrast  to  that  of  the  Arabs,  who 
live  on  the  desert,  dwelling  in  tents,  wandering  hither  and 
thither,  now  to  this  oasis  and  now  to  that,  wherever  they 
can  find  subsistence  for  their  flocks  and  herds;  and,  as 
soon  as  this  is  exhausted,  striking  their  tents,  and  dis- 
appearing below  the  horizon. 

The  Kabyles,  on  the  other  hand,  live  in  villages,  which 
are  generallv  perched  on  some  high  point  of  the  moun- 
tains for  protection  and  defence.  Look  yonder!  We 
can  see  them  distinctly,  and  very  picturesque  they  are, 
clinmnof  to  the  mountain-side.  But  if  we  were  to  inter- 
rupt  our  journey  long  enough  to  pay  them  a  visit,  Ave 
might  find  them  marked  by  other  features  than  pictur- 
esqueness.  In  Mr.  Grellet's  excursion  through  Kabylia, 
he  passed  from  village  to  village,  and  his  descriptions 
were  anything  but  attractive.  Climbing  to  their  heights, 
he  found  a  village,  sometimes  perched  on  a  cliff  looking 
sheer  down  into  the  vale  below,  or  on  the  ridge  of  a 
mountain,  with  an  outlook  on  either  side.     As  its  space 


IN   GRAND   KABYLIA  101 

was  SO  confined,  the  houses  were  packed  together  in  a 
solid  mass.  Streets  there  were  none — at  least,  which 
deserved  the  name — many  of  the  villages  being  divided 
only  by  a  single  lane,  so  narrow  that  two  could  not  walk 
abreast.  The  houses  are  of  but  one  story  and  one  room, 
in  which  all  the  family  sleep  together,  lying  down  at 
night  on  the  bare  ground,  which  they  share  with  the 
domestic  animals.  As  there  are  no  windows,  the  interior 
is  dark,  the  door  being  the  only  opening  for  light  and  air 
to  come  in,  and  for  the  smoke  to  go  out  as  it  rises  from  a 
hole  in  the  ground  where  the  inmates  cook  their  food, 
like  Indians  in  their  wigwams.  Of  course  the  air  is  vile, 
even  on  the  mountain-top,  for  all  the  winds  of  heaven 
cannot  drive  out  the  smells  of  such  a  place.  How  any- 
thing in  the  shape  of  humanity  can  live  in  these  hovels 
is  a  mystery  ;  but  the  fact  that  the  Kabyles  do  live,  and 
not  only  live,  but  increase  and  multiply,  is  proof  of  the 
vitality  of  the  race.  Some  of  these  villages  have  a  thou- 
sand inhabitants ;  indeed,  I  have  been  told  that  there 
w^ere  several  with  five  thousand,  but  this  seems  hardly 
possible.  And  yet,  who  can  count  the  bees  in  a  hive,  or 
the  ants  in  an  ant-hill  ?  The  bees  in  these  hives  are  cer- 
tainly not  drones  ;  they  are  busy  bees,  presenting  an  ex- 
ample of  industry  that  is  a  marvel  among  the  idle  and 
indolent  populations  of  Africa. 

As  soon  as  a  young  Kabyle  has  bought  a  wife,  he  must 
have  a  little  patch  of  ground  on  the  mountain-side.  No 
matter  how  rough  it  may  be,  he  will  dig  round  the  rocks, 
pick  out  the  stones,  sow  a  httle  wheat  and  barley,  plant 
a  few  fig-trees  and  olive-trees,  have  his  sheep  and  his 
goats ;  and  then  he  will  sit  before  his  door  and  smoke 
his  pipe  with  a  proud  consciousness  of  independence. 

The  Kabyles  have  a  political  life  of  their  own,  which 


102  THE   BARBAKY   COAST 

is  at  once  patriarchal  and  democratic.  Each  village  is  a 
little  republic,  or  commune,  governed  by  its  own  head- 
men, and  a  number  of  these  villages  are  formed  into  a 
rude  confederation  like  the  early  leagues  in  the  Swiss 
cantons. 

With  such  simplicity  of  government,  and  such  industry 
of  the  people,  a  romantic  traveller  might  easily  imagine 
to  himself  an  ideal  republic — an  Arcadia — throned  on 
these  mountain-tops,  an  abode  of  happiness  which  the 
outer  world  could  not  invade.  But  a  community  that 
has  no  fear  of  violence  from  the  outer  world  may  yet 
have  elements  of  discord  within,  that  make  it  to  come 
short  of  Arcadia.  Such  elements  there  are,  even  in  the 
heart  of  Kabylia,  Avhose  pastoral  people  have  yet  to 
learn  some  lessons,  not  only  of  household  cleanliness  and 
comfort,  but  of  neighborly  kindness  and  peace. 

As  we  were  crossing  the  mountains,  I  was  sitting  alone 
in  the  railwav-carriafje,  looking:  at  the  villaofes  in  the  dis- 
tance,  when  an  old  oflBcer  entered,  booted  and  spurred, 
and  bowed  to  me  with  true  French  courtesy,  which 
seemed  to  invite  conversation. 

"  You  have  been  long  in  service  in  Kabylia  ? " 

"  Many  years." 

"  And  how  do  you  find  the  country  and  the  people  ? " 

The  country  was  "  sauvage^''  but  "  raagnifique;  "  and 
the  people  were  "  Graves  gens^''  "  hons  pour  le  travail^ 
but  hot-tempered,  quick  in  anger,  and,  if  it  came  to  war, 
they  were  "  Vetes  feroces  !  "  The  latter  was  a  harsh  im- 
putation ;  and  yet  it  did  not  grate  on  my  ears  as  it  might 
have  done,  if  I  had  not  remembered  that  at  Palaestro  the 
Kabyles  threw  wounded  men  into  the  flames  of  their  own 
dwellings,  and  even  vented  their  rage  and  fury  on  the 
bodies  of  the  dead!     I  now  learned  that  this  natural 


IN   GRAND   KABYLIA  103 

fierceness  is  not  always  reserved  for  open  war,  but  that 
the  people  are  of  a  combative  temperament ;  so  much  so, 
that,  if  they  have  no  "  grand  affair "  on  hand,  they 
will  fight  among  themselves ;  that  the  mountains  are 
full  of  feuds,  in  which  village  is  set  against  village,  and 
neighbor  against  neighbor.  In  telling  me  this  the  old 
officer  only  repeated  what  has  been  said  by  other  mili- 
tary men  and  travellers  who  have  had  occasion  to  explore 
this  mountain  region,  and  who  go  so  far  as  to  say  that, 
when  their  blood  is  up,  the  Kabyles  will  fight  not  only 
with  their  fists,  but  with  their  teeth  and  nails,  biting  and 
tearing  each  other's  faces  like  panthers  of  their  own 
forests  ;  and,  that  if  nature's  weajDons  are  not  sufficient  to 
decide  the  quarrel,  they  will  seize  the  gun  or  the  yata- 
ghan. 

But  while  we  do  not  cover  up  this  fault  of  quarrelsome- 
ness, as  shown  in  their  feuds  and  vendettas,  we  can  at 
least  take  pleasure  in  recognizing  their  courage  when  dis- 
played against  the  enemies  of  their  country.  Like  the 
Swiss,  the  Kabyles  have  an  intense  love  of  their  country. 
They  love  it  for  its  very  savageness,  in  which  every  peak 
and  crag  seems  to  frown  defiance  at  an  invader.  They 
are  as  jealous  of  its  independence  as  the  brave  warriors 
of  Montenegro.  Those  who  have  fought  for  generations 
against  the  Turk  in  the  passes  of  the  Black  Mountains, 
overlooking  the  Adriatic,  have  not  shown  more  valor 
than  the  natives  of  Kabvlia.  This  courage  flames  out 
clearest  and  brightest  in  the  moments  of  greatest  danger. 
One  custom  they  have  which  shows  that  the  blood  of 
heroes  is  in  their  veins.  When  tidings  of  an  invasion 
come  to  their  mountain  retreats,  the  whole  land  rises  up 
at  the  sound  of  war.  The  young  men  of  the  different 
tribes  enter  into  a  solemn  "  league  and  convenant,"  which 


104  THE  BAEBARY  COAST 

might  be  called  the  league  of  death,  since  all  who  join  in 
it  swear  to  die  for  their  countr^^  So  complete  is  this 
offering  up  of  their  lives,  that  the  prayers  for  the  dead 
are  read  over  them,  so  that  when  they  go  forth  to  battle 
they  are  already  as  dead  men,  and  have  only  to  seek  the 
place  w^here  they  may  give  up  their  lives.  If,  indeed, 
they  annihilate  the  enemy,  they  may  return  and  live^ 
but  if  the  foe  is  still  in  the  field,  they  must  seek  death 
until  the}'"  find  it.  If  one  were  to  flee  in  the  day  of  battle 
and  return  to  his  tribe,  he  would  be  received  as  the 
Athenians  received  the  one  survivor  of  Thermopylae,  He 
would  be  an  outcast  in  his  tribe,  doomed  to  suffer  a  thou- 
sand insults  worse  than  death.  But  for  those  who  are 
killed,  there  is  glory  here  and  rest  hereafter.  Their  souls 
ascend  to  paradise,  while  their  bodies  are  buried  apart, 
in  a  place  which  is  thus  rendered  forever  sacred,  and  to 
which  pious  Moslems  will  come  and  pray  over  the  dust 
of  their  heroic  dead. 

One  thing  more  only  is  needed  to  complete  the  picture 
of  Kabyle  virtues  to  be  set  against  the  dark  background 
of  deeds  of  violence.  The}^  are  capable,  not  only  of  cour- 
age, but  of  fidelity  in  the  face  of  great  temptations,  of 
which  they  have  given  an  example,  that  should  be  told 
in  their  honor,  and  to  which  the  French  owe  their 
empire  in  Africa.  Never  was  that  empire  in  such  danger 
as  in  the  Franco-German  War.  As  soon  as  it  was  evi- 
dent that  it  was  going  against  the  French,  their  troops 
were  recalled  from  Africa  to  take  part  in  the  great 
struggle  at  home,  till  Algeria  was  left  almost  without 
defence. 

Then  the  hour  for  which  the  conquered  races  had  long 
waited  had  come,  and  if  they  could  at  once  have  joined 
their  forces  and  proclaimed  a  holy  war,  it  is  altogether 


IN  GRAND  KABYLIA  105 

probable  that  the  French  would  have  been  driven  from 
Northern  Africa.  They  might  have  regained  Algeria 
after  the  German  war  was  over,  but  only  by  a  repetition 
of  the  years  of  fighting  which  it  cost  to  conquer  it. 
That  the  tribes  did  not  take  advantage  of  this,  and  rise 
while  the  French  had  their  hands  full  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Mediterranean,  was  owing  wholly  to  their  fidelity 
to  a  solemn  pledge. 

When  the  war  broke  out,  a  chief  of  great  influence 
among  the  tribes,  Mokrani,  gave  his  word  to  the 
Governor-General  of  Algeria  that  there  should  be  no  in- 
surrection while  the  war  lasted.  That  word  was  faithfully 
kept.  The  French  arms  were  followed  by  disaster  after 
disaster;  jSTapoleon  surrendered  at  Sedan,  and  Bazaine 
surrendered  at  Metz.  Then  it  seemed  as  if  a  voice  from 
the  Rhine  called  to  the  tribes  of  Kabylia  to  seize  an 
opportunity  which  might  never  come  again.  But  not  a 
man  stirred  ;  nor  yet  when  all  the  defeats  and  disgraces 
of  the  war  culminated  in  the  siege  and  surrender  of 
Paris.  The  Moslem's  faith  was  plighted  ;  the  Moslem's 
faith  was  kept !  But  when  all  was  over,  when  the  last 
battle  had  been  fought,  and  the  treaty  of  peace  had  been 
signed  at  Frankfort,  then  Mokrani  was  released  from 
his  pledge ;  and  then,  and  not  till  then,  did  he  declare 
war.  And  still  he  would  take  no  unfair  advantage,  but 
gave  forty-eight  hours'  notice.  Then  the  war-cry  went 
through  the  mountains,  and  the  tribes  rushed  to  the  field. 
They  fought  desperately,  not  only  destroying  towns,  but 
laying  siege  to  fortified  places.  Even  Fort  Napoleon, 
now  Fort  National,  the  strongest  fortress  in  Kabylia,  had 
to  sustain  a  siege  of  over  two  months  before  the  French 
troops  could  come  to  its  relief.  But  the  end  was  inev- 
itable ;  for  as  soon  as  the  French  armies  were  freed  from 


106  THE   BARBARY  COAST 

duty  at  home,  they  came  in  large  divisions  across  the 
Mediterranean.  Seeing  that  all  was  lost,  Mokrani  put 
himself  at  the  head  of  his  troops  for  the  last  battle,  and 
dashing  to  the  front,  "  foremost,  fighting,  fell." 

The  war  was  ended,  and  the  Kabyles  were  subdued, 
but  with  no  loss  of  reputation  for  courage,  and  with 
increase  of  honor,  in  that  they  had  kept  faith  even  with 
unbelievers ;  and  it  was  fitting  that  the  French  should 
themselves  erect  a  monument  to  mark  the  spot  where 
this  noble  enemy  perished.  Such  fidelity,  coupled  with 
valor  in  war,  and  industry  in  peace,  with  intense  love  of 
country,  and  courage  in  defending  it,  are  enough  to  re- 
deem a  whole  people  from  the  reproach  of  barbarism. 


CHAPTER  X 


THE    GOEGE    OF   CHABET 


No  man  has  done  so  much  to  bring  Northern  Africa 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  English-reading  world  as  Sir 
Lambert  Playfair,  the  British  Consul-General  at  Algiers, 
■where  he  has  been  for  twenty -five  years,  and  has  had 
occasion  to  make  excursions  to  every  part  of  the  country, 
till  he  knows  it  from  one  end  to  the  other.  His  Hand- 
Book  on  Algeria  and  Tunis,  published  by  Murray,  is 
altogether  the  best  in  existence ;  while,  aside  from  that, 
he  is  himself  an  encyclopaedia  of  information  on  a  hun- 
dred subjects,  which  could  be  touched  but  lightly  in  such 
a  volume,  and  on  which  it  is  the  delight  of  his  friends  to 
listen  to  him.  To  his  kindness  I  owe  the  outline  of  an 
excursion  which  should  take  me  into  parts  of  the  coun- 
try that  I  had  not  visited  before,  and  the  interest  of  which 
I  leave  the  reader  to  judge. 

He  advised  me,  in  going  east,  instead  of  keeping  on 
direct  to  Constantine,  to  turn  off  to  the  left  and  go  down 
to  Bougie,  from  which  I  should  take  a  carriage  and  drive 
over  the  mountains.  This  would  take  me  two  days,  but 
enable  me  to  see  the  Gorge  of  Chabet,  "  the  most  won- 
derful scenery  in  Northern  Africa,"  of  which  he  had 
spoken  in  his  guide-book  as  "  hardly  to  be  surpassed  in 
any  part  of  the  world ; "  adding :  "  There  is  certainly 
nothing  to  equal  it  within  easy  range  of  the  basin  of  the 
Mediterranean,  except,  perhaps,  in  the  island  of  Corsica." 

I  followed  his  suggestion,  and,  on  emerging  from  the 


108  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

heart  of  Grand  Kabylia,  swung  round  to  the  north,  and 
bore  down  toward  the  sea.  The  mountains  were  still  in 
sight,  but  sinking  down  into  hills,  whose  slopes  were 
covered  with  plantations  of  the  olive  and  the  vine,  so 
that  it  was,  like  Palestine,  "  a  land  of  vineyards  and  olive- 
yards,  and  of  brooks  that  run  among  the  hills."  This 
was  a  delightful  close  to  the  day,  which  began  at  Algiers, 
and  now  ended  at  Bougie,  the  seaport  of  Eastern  Kabylia. 
"When  I  awoke  in  the  morning,  I  was  in  Scotland. 
As  I  threw  open  the  window  and  stepped  out  on  the 
balcony,  I  was  in  the  heart  of  the  Highlands.  There 
was  Loch  Lomond  at  my  feet,  w^tli  the  mountains 
around  it,  which,  to  complete  the  illusion,  were  at  the 
moment  partly  enveloped  in  a  Scotch  mist.  But  the 
clouds  soon  cleared  away,  leaving  the  mountains  in  their 
majest}".  Nearly  sixty  years  ago  the  poet  Campbell 
chanced  to  light  upon  this  spot,  and  w^  rote  home  in  such 
raptures  as  these : 

"  Such  is  the  grandeur  of  the  surrounding  mountain  scenery  that 
I  drop  my  pen  in  despair  of  giving  you  any  conception  of  it. 
Scotchman  as  I  am,  and  much  as  I  love  my  native  land,  I  felt  as  if 
I  had  never  before  seen  the  full  glory  of  mountain  scenery.  The 
African  Highlands  spring  up  to  the  sight,  not  only  with  a  sterner 
boldness  than  our  own,  but  they  borrow  colors  from  the  sun 
unknown  to  our  climate,  and  they  are  mantled  in  clouds  of  richer 
dye.  The  farthest-off  summits  appeared  in  their  snow  like  the 
turbans  of  gigantic  Moors,  whilst  the  nearest  masses  glowed  in 
crimson  and  gold  under  the  light  of  the  morning," 

The  town  of  Bougie  may  be  despatched  in  few  words. 
It  has  a  history  dating  back  to  the  time  of  the  Romans. 
There  is  an  old  arch  that  is  said  to  have  been  reared  by 
them,  though  it  may  have  been  by  the  Saracens,  and  an 
old  fort  and  old  walls  that  have  their  legends.     But  I 


THE  GORGE   OF  CHABET  109 

was  SO  absorbed  by  the  mountains  and  the  sea,  that  I 
had  no  eyes  for  anything  else. 

The  beauty  of  the  morning  was  but  the  beginning  of 
a  day  of  varied  interest.  I  was  to  make  ni}''  excursion 
in  a  new  fashion,  having  done  Avith  railroads,  as  I  had 
done  Avith  steamers,  and  was  to  be  for  two  days  driving 
over  the  mountains  of  Africa. 

The  only  drawback  to  the  enjoyment  was  that  I  was 
alone.  It  seemed  selfish  to  have  a  carriage  and  two 
horses  all  to  myself  ;  whatever  dignity  it  might  give  me 
I  would  have  gladly  exchanged  for  good  company.  But 
at  least  I  had  a  charioteer,  who  knew  a  few  words  of 
French,  and  could  tell  me  about  the  country. 

Our  course  was  at  first  along  the  bay,  Avhere,  as  we 
were  close  to  the  shore,  the  waves  came  rippling  up 
almost  to  our  feet.  The  country  is  highly  cultivated. 
There  are  large  plantations  occupied  by  Frenchmen 
who  have  crossed  the  sea  to  better  their  fortunes,  in 
which  they  seem  to  have  been  fairly  successful.  K"ow 
and  then  an  avenue  planted  with  trees  leads  up  to  a  man- 
sion that  aspires  to  take  the  place  of  the  French  chateau. 
One,  I  observed,  had  an  under  story  of  massive  stone, 
Avith  portholes,  which  seemed  to  indicate  that  the  owner, 
having  in  mind  the  insurrection  of  1871,  had  built  a 
house  which,  in  case  of  a  repetition  of  that  bloody  time, 
might  serve  as  a  fortress. 

From  the  bay  we  came  out  on  the  bolder  coast  of  the 
sea,  Avhere  the  difficulty  of  construction  is  increased  by 
the  heights  to  be  scaled,  and  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to 
force  a  passage  by  blasting  out  the  side  of  a  cliff.  As 
we  rounded  the  headland  of  Cape  Cavallo,  a  rock  above 
us  bore  this  significant  inscription  :  "  Fonts  et  Chaussees 
—1863-64."     Only  three  Avords  and  a  date !    But  they 


110  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

tell  the  whole  story  :  that  the  department  of  the  French 
Government  which  has  the  special  charge  of  bridges 
and  roads  built  this  road  in  the  years  1863-64.  That 
is  the  only  record  of  the  great  power  beyond  the  sea 
which  has  given  to  this  portion  of  Africa  a  means  of 
communication  which  the  native  Arabs  or  Kabyles,  left 
to  themselves,  would  not  have  had  in  a  thousand  years. 
To  be  sure,  it  may  be  said  that  these  imperial  highway's, 
as  well  as  the  systems  of  railroads,  are  built  by  the 
French  to  bind  together  all  parts  of  their  African  empire. 
But  no  matter  for  that.  The  roads  are  here,  for  the 
benefit  of  all  races,  and  will  remain  to  all  generations. 

To  get  the  full  enjoyment  of  this  mountain  drive,  we 
had  started  at  seven  o'clock,  and  at  eleven  stopped  to 
rest  our  horses.  There  was  no  pretentious  hotel  on  the 
road,  but  at  a  place  christened  "  Sidi  Rehan "  was  a 
farmhouse,  that  served  as  a  sort  of  wayside  inn  and 
resort  of  those  fond  of  hunting,  as  we  perceived  by  the 
inviting  sign,  "  Au  Rendezvous  de  Chasse."  My  driver, 
who  was  continually  going  over  the  road,  was  familiar 
with  the  place,  and  drove  into  the  yard  as  one  at  home. 
As  we  entered,  the  proprietor,  in  hunting  costume,  with 
gun  in  hand,  was  starting  out  for  game,  but  turned 
politely  to  bid  us  welcome.  The  figure  answered  to  my 
ideal  of  a  huntsman — not  large  and  unwieldy,  but  com- 
pact and  well  knit,  with  an  ease  and  grace  of  motion 
that  is  the  natural  expression  of  conscious  strength. 
Besides,  there  was  that  which  one  does  not  look  for  in 
the  ordinary  hunter — a  mild  eye,  and  a  voice  that  was 
almost  feminine  in  its  softness,  which  made  me  look  up 
as  if  I  had  mistaken  the  sex  of  the  person  I  addressed ; 
and  I  soon  communicated  to  ''  Sayed  "  my  suspicion  that 
the  landlord  was  a  woman,  to  which  he  replied  that 


THE  GORGE   OF   CHABET  111 

there  was  no  mystery  about  the  matter,  and  that  the 
proper  form  of  address  was  not  "  Monsieur "  nor  even 
"  Madame,"  but  "  Mademoiselle,"  for  that  such  she  was, 
although  of  an  age  when  she  might  be  supposed  to  be 
married. 

Naturally,  I  was  very  much  interested  in  the  appear- 
ance of  a  woman  in  this  character,  but  did  not  suffer  my 
interest  to  draw  me  into  intrusive  curiosity.  I  sim- 
ply addressed  her  as  I  was  told  to  do,  to  which  she 
answered  without  the  slightest  embarrassment,  evidently 
feeling  that  her  position  was  as  proper  as  that  of  any 
man  or  woman  in  the  world.  Her  manner  was  so  sim- 
ple and  natural  as  to  invite  conversation,  and,  as  we  took 
our  seats  under  the  shade  of  a  large  ash  tree  that  stood 
before  her  door,  I  could  but  remark  upon  her  freedom 
and  independence  of  life,  which  led  her  to  speak  with 
such  frankness,  that  she  gave  me,  in  the  two  hours  of 
our  stay,  quite  an  outline  of  her  history. 

She  told  me  that  she  was  a  native  of  the  country,  of 
French  parents,  but  born  in  Setif,  a  town  on  the  road 
to  Constantine,  so  that  she  was  a  true  "  Algerienne." 
Her  father  died  some  years  since,  leaving  a  consider- 
able property,  and  her  mother  two  years  since.  In  the 
division  of  the  estate  there  was  a  disagreement  with  her 
brother  and  sister,  that  led  them  to  go  by  themselves ; 
while  she,  out  of  what  fell  to  her,  bought  this  place  in 
the  country,  that  she  might  have  an  independent  exist- 
ence. It  was  a  bold  undertaking,  for  there  were  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  hectares  of  ground  (three  hundred  and 
seventy -five  acres)  on  which  there  was  a  large  vineyard, 
the  product  of  which,  to  judge  from  a  cart  that  stood 
in  the  yard,  laden  with  half  a  dozen  hogsheads,  must  be 
considerable.     She  took  me  into  her  garden  to  show  me 


112  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

her  orange  trees,  under  which  the  Kabyles  were  gather- 
ing the  ripe  fruit.  They  were  not  her  laborers,  but  her 
customers,  for  she  sold  them  the  oranges  at  thirty-five 
cents  a  hundred,  and,  as  soon  as  the  count  was  made,  I 
saw  them  pay  over  the  money  in  silver.  All  the  finan- 
cial business  connected  with  the  estate  she  attended  to 
herself ;  for,  although  it  w^as  a  large  property,  w'hat  the 
French  would  call  a  helle  fortune,  it  required  careful 
management.  She  told  me  that  when  she  took  it,  it 
was  greatly  encumbered,  and  that  she  had  over  a  hun- 
dred thousand  francs  to  pa}'^ ;  but  that  she  had  paid 
more  than  half  already,  and  in  a  year  or  two  hoped  to 
pay  the  rest. 

Though  she  was  the  sole  owner,  she  did  not  live  alone. 
She  had  a  manager  who  took  care  of  the  farm,  while 
his  wife  was  her  companion.  She  said  they  w^ere  like 
a  brother  and  sister  to  her.  This  made  their  little 
family,  while  the  Kabyles  emploj^ed  on  the  place,  and 
the  people  passing  on  the  road,  and  the  hunters  coming 
now  and  then  for  a  few  days'  sport  in  the  neighboring 
forests,  kept  her  from  a  feeling  of  loneliness. 

So  far  as  this,  her  story  would  not  have  very  much 
novelty.  I  doubt  not  there  are  many  cases  in  our  west- 
ern country  where  a  wife  or  daughter,  left  by  the  death 
of  a  husband  or  father  in  charge  of  an  estate,  has  con- 
ducted its  business  afi'airs  with  ability  and  success.  "Wo- 
men often  show  an  unexpected  capacity  in  this,  as  in 
man}'-  other  untried  spheres  of  life. 

But  what  has  surprised  m}'"  readers,  and  pei'haps 
shocked  them,  has  been  the  putting  on  of  male  attire, 
and  with  it  the  assumption  of  a  too  masculine  style.  On 
these  points  Mademoiselle  was  as  frank  as  on  others. 
She  admitted  that  she  was  not  like  most  women.     She 


THE   GORGE   OF   CHABET  113 

said,  "  I  am  a  character  apart.  I  love  the  country,  and 
I  love  my  independence.  I  am  fond  of  an  out-door  life. 
I  love  to  mount  a  spirited  horse  and  ride  over  the  moun- 
tains. [She  counted  it  nothing  to  gallop  off  thirty  kilo- 
metres (twenty  miles)  in  a  morning.]  I  love  to  go  into 
the  woods  with  my  gun.  [I  had  observed  a  couple  of 
double-barrelled  fowling-pieces,  with  a  hunter's  bag, 
hanging  in  the  hall.]  This  is  my  companion,"  she 
said,  pointing  to  a  greyhound  at  her  feet. 

I  asked  her  what  game  she  found.  She  said,  "  There 
are  partridges  and  other  birds  in  abundance,  and  wild 
boars  and  panthers ! "  The  latter,  of  course,  she  never 
hunted ;  nor  did  she  at  all  like  the  idea  of  their  being 
near  her.  A  year  or  two  since,  while  walking  in  her 
own  grounds,  she  heard  a  low  growl  of  one  passing  in 
the  brush  close  beside  her.  Two  had  been  killed  this 
very  year.  She  was  glad  that  they  were  diminishing, 
as  they  were  not  agreeable  neighbors.  The  offer  by  the 
Government  of  forty  francs  (eight  dollars)  a  head  had 
brought  so  many  hunters  into  the  field,  that  they  were 
being  gradually  exterminated. 

Having  adopted  her  manner  of  life,  her  costume  was  a 
matter  of  convenience,  almost  of  necessity.  "With  her 
rough  riding  in  all  sorts  of  weather,  the  long  skirts  of  a 
lady's  riding  habit  would  be  sadly  in  the  way.  For  the 
thick  woods  and  mountain  heights  quite  another  costume 
was  needed. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  she  carried  out  her  own 
sense  of  propriety  to  the  full.  Her  costume  was  no  half- 
way affair,  like  that  of  our  fair  riders,  whose  beautiful 
heads  are  crowned  by  a  stovepipe  hat,  while  she  Avas 
in  man's  attire  from  top  to  toe.  She  Avore  a  soft  felt  hat 
upon  her  head,  which  had  a  jaunty  look.  Her  habit 
8 


114  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

was  a  hunter's  jacket  of  corduroy,  with  plain  steel  but- 
tons, and  short  pantaloons  of  the  same  material,  ending 
in  a  stout  pair  of  riding  boots. 

And  as  she  dressed  like  a  man,  she  rode  like  a  man ; 
though,  as  she  took  care  to  tell  me,  when  she  went  to 
the  city,  she  took  her  side-saddle  and  her  riding  dress, 
and  rode  like  others  of  her  sex.  But  when  she  was  in 
the  free  air  of  the  country,  she  bestrode  her  horse  like  a 
cuirassier,  and  rode  as  warriors  do  when  they  are  riding 
to  battle. 

Since  writing  this,  I  have  been  told  what  leads  me  to 
think  that  perhaps  I  owe  it  to  my  new  acquaintance  to 
say  that  the  surprise  I  felt  at  her  first  appearance  may 
have  betrayed  my  own  ignorance  rather  than  her  singu- 
larity ;  for  I  have  found  in  these  remote  parts  of  the 
world  that  the  adoption,  in  special  cases,  of  a  masculine 
attire,  is  not  so  uncommon  that  it  need  stamp  the  wearer 
as  braving  public  opinion  by  her  eccentricity.  I  am  told 
that  an  English  lady,  who  is  the  wife  of  a  French  gen- 
eral commanding  a  division  in  Algeria,  and  is  fond  of 
accompanying  her  husband  in  his  hunting  expeditions, 
always  prepares  herself  for  roughing  it  by  a  costume 
which  enables  her  to  force  her  way  through  the  tangled 
brushwood  that  would  tear  an  ordinary  dress  to  pieces, 
even  though  it  gives  her  a  little  of  the  look  of  a  soldier. 
Indeed,  the  same  informant  tells  me  that  it  has  become 
quite  a  fashion  in  certain  circles  given  to  cross-country 
riding  and  other  forms  of  manly  exercise,  to  which  wo- 
men are  becoming  more  and  more  addicted,  to  wear  a 
blouse  and  belt ;  and,  when  the  riding  is  changed  for 
mountain  climbing,  to  exchange  the  long  skirt  for  one 
that  is  not  such  an  impediment  to  a  freedom  of  motion, 
which  requires  the  fullest  command  of  both  hand  and  foot. 


I 


THE   GORGE   OF   CHABET  115 

This  more  generous  interpretation  of  the  singular 
figure  before  me  is  all  the  more  due  to  her,  because, 
while  thus  completely  attired  in  a  man's  costume,  there 
was  nothing  masculine  in  her  manner,  nothing  forward 
or  unwomanly.  Indeed,  I  could  but  think  that  some  of 
our  young  women  of  fasliion,  who  are  very  '"loud"  in 
voice  and  manner,  might  take  a  lesson  of  quietness  and 
dignity  from  this  huntress  of  the  forest. 

Such  was  the  woman  whom  I  met  in  the  heart  of 
Kabylia,  whose  story  enlisted  my  sympathy,  and  from 
whom  I  parted  with  a  feeling  of  entire  respect.  If  I 
tell  this  story  here,  it  is  not  that  I  desire  to  recommend 
her  mode  of  life  to  my  countrywomen.  And  yet  it  is 
well  to  know  how  men  and  women  live  in  other  parts 
of  .  the  world,  that  we  may  give  them  the  confidence 
which  belongs  to  them.  "With  all  her  freedom  of  life,  she 
confessed  that  she  had  had  a  great  deal  of  sorrow.  The 
separation  from  her  brother  and  sister  was  a  constant 
grief ;  and  in  parting  from  her,  it  was  with  a  real  sym- 
pathy for  the  loneliness  that  must  at  times  come  to  her 
woman's  heart,  and  a  hope  that  she  may  hereafter  return 
to  society,  and  find  all  the  happiness  that  a  true  woman 
can  deserve. 

As  we  resumed  our  journey,  we  found  the  country 
rugged  and  broken,  but  it  was  not  till  the  middle  of  the 
afternoon  that  the  mountains  closed  in  upon  us,  as  if  to 
bar  our  further  passage.  We  had  been  going  up,  up,  up, 
and  now  began  to  go  down,  down,  down,  until  w^e  entered 
a  defile,  where  the  Alpine  chain  had  been  cleft  asunder 
ages  ago,  leaving  only  a  narrow  pass  that  had  been  worn 
still  deeper  by  a  mountain  torrent.  But  while  this  forced 
a  passage  for  itself,  it  had  left  room  for  nothing  else,  so 
that  there  was  not  even  a  footpath  by  which  a  man  could 


116  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

make  his  way  along  the  rushing  river.  There  were 
depths  that  had  never  been  touched  by  any  human 
foot.  Even  the  Arab,  though  sure  of  foot  as  the  moun- 
tain goat,  had  only  climbed  over  a  few  accessible  points, 
and  crept  down  into  the  abyss  below,  when,  as  if  fright- 
ened at  his  own  rashness,  he  had  turned  and  climbed 
back  again. 

To  carry  a  road  through  such  a  pass  was  one  of  the 
boldest  projects  of  an  age  fruitful  in  great  achievements 
in  the  way  of  scaling  heights  and  bridging  depths.  The 
engineer  had  nothing  to  guide  him  but  the  river,  but  he 
reasoned  that  where  the  waters  bad  forced  their  way, 
man  could  follow;  and  so  he  began  with  pickaxe  and 
drill,  and  gunpowder  and  dynamite,  to  tear  away  the 
sides  of  the  mountain.  Of  course  he  could  not  make  a 
straight  road :  the  wonder  is,  that  he  could  make  it  at 
all ;  which  he  did  only  by  twisting  and  turning  from 
side  to  side,  till  at  last  the  great  barrier  was  broken 
through. 

And  now,  following  in  the  path  of  the  conqueror,  we 
sit  at  ease  in  a  carriage,  and  roll  smoothly  over  the  high- 
way that  he  has  builded,  while  we  look  up  at  the  stu- 
pendous cliffs  reared  by  an  Almighty  hand.  To  describe 
these  so  that  others  shall  see  what  I  saw  is  impossible. 
Words  are  tame  in  the  presence  of  such  wonders  of 
nature.  Nor  is  it  within  the  reach  of  the  painter's  art. 
Salvator  Rosa  might  have  taken  his  seat  on  some  pro- 
jecting crag  and  sketched  a  single  view,  but  even  he 
could  convey  no  adequate  impression  of  the  mighty 
whole.  I  can  only  say  that  I  have  seen  nothing  grander 
in  the  Alps.  Indeed,  the  nearest  parallel  to  it  is  in  our 
own  country,  in  the  Black  Canon  of  the  Gunnison,  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains. 


THE   GORGE   OF   CHABET  117 

In  this  long  succession  of  mountain  views  (for  the  Pass 
is  between  four  and  five  miles  in  length)  there  was  that 
which  was  not  only  impressive,  but  oppressive.  If  the 
first  sensation  was  a  thrill,  the  next  was  a  shudder  at  the 
pi'ison  walls  that  closed  in  upon  us.  There  was  some- 
thing aw^ful  in  the  ever  deepening  shadows  which  shut 
out  the  light  of  heaven  till  we  felt  that  we  should  never 
more  look  upon  the  face  of  the  sun.  We  had,  like 
Jonah,  "gone  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  mountains,  and 
the  earth  with  her  bars  was  about  us  forever,"  We 
knew  something  of  that  "horror  of  great  darkness" 
which  creeps  upon  the  soul  as  it  enters  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death.  This  impression  was  increased  by  the 
stillness  and  the  absence  of  life.  Not  a  sound  broke  the 
silence,  save  the  roar  and  dash  of  the  waters  below.  JSTor 
was  there  a  sign  of  a  living  thing,  save  the  monkeys  that 
make  their  home  among  the  rocks.  I^ow  and  then  a 
bird  shot  across  the  darkness,  as  we  could  see  when  the 
flash  of  a  wing  caught  a  ray  of  sunlight.  Yet  all  the 
while  we  could  not  resist  the  fascination  of  looking: 
upward,  though  it  made  the  head  swim.  A  mile  above 
us  a  colossal  mass  of  rock  seemed  poised  in  air  and  top- 
pling to  its  fall,  and  we  could  hardly  resist  the  feeling 
that  it  would  break  away  and  thunder  down  the  moun- 
tain side  and  bury  us  forev^er.  So  strong  was  the  impres- 
sion that  we  were  being  entombed  alive,  that  it  was  a 
relief  when,  after  an  hour  of  this  stress  and  strain,  we 
emerged  into  the  light  and  sunshine. 

In  this  tender  light  of  the  afternoon,  we  drove  out  of 
the  Gorge  of  Chabet,  and  down  the  mountain,  to  the 
village  of  Kharata  at  its  foot,  where  we  spent  the  night. 

But  here  did  not  end  our  drive,  for  as  I  had  made  a 
long  detour  to  compass  all  that  I  had  seen,  it  took  another 


118  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

day  to  bring  me  back  to  the  trunk  line  of  railway  that  I 
had  left — a  day  that  had  its  own  interest,  though  in  a 
different  way.  "We  were  out  of  the  mountains,  but  still 
in  the  hill  country,  where  the  constant  change  of  level, 
going  up  hill  and  down,  offered  an  infinite  variety  of 
picturesque  landscapes.  Often,  as  we  climbed  a  hill,  we 
looked  down  into  a  deep  valley,  where  the  eye  rested  on 
what  at  first  seemed  to  be  a  group  of  haystacks,  but 
what,  on  looking  closer,  we  found  to  be  the  thatched 
roofs  of  cottages  clustered  together — roofs  that  stoop  so 
low  that  the  eaves  almost  touch  the  ground,  and  it 
seemed  as  if  a  man  must  not  only  stoop  to  enter  his 
house,  but  crawl  in  on  his  hands  and  feet.  But  in  such 
humble  abodes  live  father  and  mother,  with  little  chil- 
.dren  totthng  in  and  out,  and  there  is  room,  even,  for  the 
pet  lamb  or  kid.  Often  three  or  four  cottages  are  placed 
end  to  end,  so  as  to  form  a  square,  and  the  open  space 
between  them  is  filled  Avith  sheep  and  the  little  black 
goats  whose  milk  serves  as  a  very  important  contribution 
to  the  family  subsistence.  We  could  but  admire  the 
waj"  in  which  the  Kabyles  plant  their  cottages  in  the 
most  inaccessible  places,  Avherever  they  can  find  a  rod  of 
ground  to  cultivate.  With  such  tenacity  do  they  cling 
to  the  dear  old  Mother  Earth,  that  they  may  draw  life 
from  her  life,  not  "  sucking  the  breasts  of  kings,"  but  of 
one  greater  than  kings,  the  common  mother  and  nour- 
isher  of  us  all. 

As  the  day  wore  on,  the  landscape  took  on  new  shapes, 
new  forms,  new  colors.  Kot  only  had  the  mountains  sunk 
down  to  hills,  but  the  hills  sank  down  lower  and  lower, 
till  the  eye  ranged  over  a  broad,  undulating  countr}^  like 
the  rolling  prairies  of  the  West,  in  which  were  grazing 
not  only  flocks  of  sheep,  but  horses  and  herds  of  cattle, 


THE    GORGE   OF   CHABET  119 

signs  that  we  had  come  into  a  land  of  plenty,  that  was 
at  once  more  fertile  and  more  cultivated,  and  that  yielded 
a  larger  increase. 

At  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we  drove  into  the 
town  of  Setif,  of  which  I  had  never  heard  before,  but 
which  has  a  history  dating  back  to  the  time  of  the 
Romans.  JSTow  the  old  is  swept  away,  and  all  has  be- 
come new.  The  town  has  been  rebuilt,  and  been  walled 
in  and  fortified  by  the  French.  As  I  did  not  know  a 
human  being,  I  strolled  about  alone,  simply  watching 
the  life  that  was  going  on  around  me.  Crossing  a 
square  at  sunset,  I  heard  a  voice,  and,  looking  up,  saw 
the  muezzin  on  the  minaret  of  the  mosque,  calling  the 
faithful  to  prayer.  The  call  was  quickly  answered  by 
a  flock  of  snowy  turbans,  that,  in  their  rapid  motion, 
swept  by  me  like  a  flock  of  doves,  hastening  to  the  place 
where  those  tall  figures  would  sink  on  bended  knees,  and 
even  prostrate  themselves,  with  their  faces  to  the  earth, 
as  they  offered  their  evening  sacrifice. 


CHAPTEK  XI 

GOLNa    DOW]!^    INTO    THE    DESERT 

The  next  morning  I  left  too  early  to  hear  even  the 
sunrise  call  to  prayer.  I  had  a  little  sinking  of  the 
heart  at  starting  for  the  desert  alone.     I  knew  the  lines : 

"  Afar  in  the  desert  I  love  to  ride 
With  the  silent  Bush-boy  alone  by  my  side." 

But  I  had  not  even  a  Bush-boy.  As  we  crowded  into 
the  omnibus  that  was  to  take  us  to  the  station,  all  sat 
silent  and  glum.  But,  as  we  emerged  into  the  gaslight, 
1  espied  a  young  man  who  was  certainly  not  French,  and 
not  quite  English,  and,  like  the  Ancient  Mariner,  I 
"fixed  him  with  my  glittering  eye"  till  I  was  sure  that 
he  was  of  "  mine  own  country ; "  we  became  friends 
at  once,  and  had  a  railway  carriage  all  to  ourselves,  so 
that  we  could  turn  from  side  to  side  to  take  in  all  the 
features  of  Africa,  while  in  the  intervals  we  could  talk 
of  our  beloved  America. 

We  were  bound  for  the  desert,  but  I  cannot  say,  "  Far 
off  its  coming  shone ! "  Indeed,  it  gave  no  sign  of  its  ap- 
pearing. For  a  hundred  miles  that  we  bore  southward, 
the  country  was  one  of  great  natural  fertility,  if  not 
of  high  cultivation.  Only  the  mountains  were  bleak 
and  bare,  as  if  they  had  been  blasted  and  splintered  by 
all  the  lightnings  of  heaven.  In  this  work  of  destruction 
the  waters  have  joined  with  the  lightnings,  as  now  and 


GOING   DOWN    INTO   THE   DESERT  121 

then  great  storra-cloucis  have  rolled  up  from  the  Medi- 
terranean, and  been  driven  inland,  to  burst  upon  the 
mountains  and  sweep  the  soil  from  their  rocky  sides, 
which  are  thus  exposed  to  the  African  sun.  Here  and 
there  the  cliffs  rise  up  from  the  plain  like  battlements, 
with  long,  sharp  crests,  not  broken  by  a  single  tree  stand- 
inof  up  ap-ainst  the  skv.  But  this  does  not  blight  the 
fertility  of  the  plains  below,  which  are  just  now  in  all 
the  beauty  of  spring.  There  are  smiling  landscapes  that 
remind  one  of  Brittany  and  Norraand  v,  all  the  more  that 
they  are  dotted  here  and  there  with  little  Trench  vil- 
lages. But  these  grow  fewer  as  we  get  farther  south, 
till  there  remain  only  the  black  tents  of  the  Arabs,  which 
are  so  low  that  they  seem  literally  to  squat  upon  the 
ground,  like  their  occupants.  Yet  these  tents  swarm 
with  life.  Children  are  playing  about  the  doors,  while 
the  masters  are  off  upon  the  plain,  watching  their  flocks 
of  sheep  and  goats,  in  which  I  observed,  for  the  first 
time,  our  old  friend  the  American  hog!  But  the  most 
striking  object  in  the  distance  is  the  shepherd  himself, 
who  is  a  type  and  a  memorial,  the  representative  of  a 
race,  as  truly  as  the  Indian  on  our  Western  plains.  It  is 
the  same  figrure  that  we  recoo^nize  under  an  Italian  cloak 
on  the  Eoman  Campagna.  That  figure  is  one  of  the  old- 
est in  history.  Indeed,  that  solitary  Arab,  wrapped  in  his 
burnous,  answers  perfectly  to  the  figure  of  the  shepherds 
that  kept  the  flocks  of  Jacob  three  thousand  years  ago. 

"While  thus  observing  the  tent-life  and  shepherd-life  of 
these  African  plains,  we  are  approaching  the  famous  Pass 
of  El  Kantara,  through  which  we  are  to  enter  the 
desert.  It  is  by  no  means  so  imposing  as  the  Gorge  of 
Chabet,  which  is  over  four  miles  long,  while  this  is  but 
three  hundred  yards.    But  it  forms  a  noble  gateway  to 


122  THE   BARBARY    COAST 

the  new  aspect  of  nature  that  is  soon  to  appear.  As  I 
looked  up  at  the  cHffs  on  either  hand,  it  seemed  as  if  the 
iron  gates  swung  back  before  the  rushing  train,  which, 
as  it  came  on  with  smoke  and  flame,  was  no  unworthy 
symbol  of  the  new  civilization  that  is  to  conquer  the 
world.  As  we  swept  through  the  pass,  we  looked  for- 
ward eagerly,  expecting  to  be  overwhelmed  by  the  sight 
that  would  burst  upon  us.  But  Nature  does  not  make 
her  contrasts  so  sharp  and  sudden,  and  softens  the 
impression  of  the  desert  by  placing  at  its  very  entrance 
a  grove  of  fifteen  thousand  statel}''  palms!  Looking 
clear  to  the  horizon,  the  landscape  was  still  fresh  and 
green,  even  while  we  were  advancing  towards  a  "great 
and  terrible  wilderness."  Forty  miles  from  El  Kantara 
brings  us  to  Biskra,  where  the  railroad  ends,  and  it  was  a 
surprise,  indeed,  to  step  from  a  luxurious  railway  carriage 
into  a  large  and  well-appointed  station,  and  yet  to  know 
that  we  were  actually  in  the  Desert  of  Sahara !  Yes, 
in  the  desert,  but  not  quite  of  it ;  for  Biskra  is  an  oasis, 
from  which  the  desert  is  so  shut  out  by  the  encircling 
palms  that  we  are  on  an  island  of  verdure  in  a  sea  of 
desolation. 

This  remote  spot  has  one  supreme  attraction  in  its  win- 
ter climate,  which,  because  of  the  distance  from  the  sea, 
is  never  troubled  by  the  mists  and  fogs  that  often  enwrap 
Alsfiers  and  the  Riviera.  This  has  made  Biskra,  since  it 
came  under  French  control,  a  fashionable  winter  resort, 
with  all  the  features  of  similar  resorts  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Mediterranean.  The  town  is  laid  out  in  the 
French  style,  with  streets  well  paved,  well  watered, 
and  well  kept,  and  shops  brilliantly  lighted ;  and,  as 
one  sees  the  French  soldiers  marching  through  the 
streets,  and  hears  the  bands  playing  in  the  public  squares, 


GOING   DOWN  INTO  THE   DESERT  123 

he  feels  that  he  is  not  yet  beyond  the  hmits  of  European 
civihzation. 

But  he  has  not  far  to  go  to  find  the  other  side  of  the 
picture.  A  few  minutes'  walk  will  take  him  into  the 
part  of  the  town  known  as  Old  Biskra,  where  he  will 
encounter  the  true  children  of  the  desert,  the  old  race, 
and  the  old  barbarism.  To  see  all  the  native  types  to- 
gether, he  has  but  to  visit  the  market-place.  We  went 
on  tlie  day  before  the  beginning  of  Kamadan,  the  Moslem 
Lent,  when  for  a  month  all  true  believers  fast  from  sun- 
rise to  sunset.  Of  course  they  were  eager  to  lay  in  a 
stock  of  provisions  for  the  long  season  of  penance  and 
privation,  and  the  market  was  heaped  not  only  with 
things  to  delight  the  eye,  but  that  were  good  for  food. 
Here  were  dates  and  gums  and  spices,  and  wheat  and 
barley,  as  well  as  leopard  skins  and  ostrich  feathers,  and 
all  the  precious  things  of  Africa. 

But  the  chief  attraction  of  the  place  was  not  in  the 
market,  but  in  the  people,  among  whom  were  men  of 
tribes  which  have  been  the  terror  of  the  desert.  But 
the  present  scene  was  altogether  peaceful,  while  it  was 
full  of  the  animation  common  at  such  very  miscellaneous 
gatherings.  Here  a  blind  story-teller  sat  upon  the 
ground,  and  told  his  tale  in  such  musical  Arabic  that 
even  foreigners  could  perceive  that  he  was  reciting 
poetry.  This  touched  the  Arabs'  love  of  poetry  and 
romance,  and  many  left  their  buying  and  selling  to 
gather  round  the  poor  blind  creature,  to  whom  they  lis- 
tened as  the  men  of  Bagdad  listened  to  the  tales  in  the 
Arabian  JS'ights. 

In  the  crowd  of  country-folk  that  poured  into  the 
town  on  this  market  day  was  an  Arab,  who  went  about 
with  a  gazelle,  a  beautiful  creature  that  followed  him 


124  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

like  a  dog.  The  natives  are  fond  of  domestic  animals, 
and  make  pets  of  birds  and  beasts.  The  house  dog  is 
not  more  one  of  the  family  in  our  country  homes  than 
in  the  tents  of  the  Arabs.  Years  ago,  when  travelling 
in  the  desert,  I  found  that  an  Arab  village  or  camp 
ahvaj's  betrayed  itself  by  the  barking  of  dogs. 

But  the  most  notable  pet  that  has  been  on  exhibition 
here  has  been  a  full-grown  lion,  that  was  so  tame  as  to 
be  led  about  the  streets.  True,  he  was  not  just  out  of 
the  desert,  where  he  had  been  taken  in  the  toils,  brought 
in  as  a  prisoner,  and  subdued  by  the  power  of  man.  He 
was  born  in  captivity  at  Marseilles,  and  showed  such  sin- 
gular gentleness  that  he  was  not  only  let  out  of  his  cage, 
but  followed  his  keeper  about  like  a  huge  St.  Bernard 
dog.  When  he  was  here  in  Biskra  he  was  the  show  and 
the  pet  of  the  whole  community.  ISTot  only  did  chil- 
dren run  to  see  him,  but  their  elders  also,  who  came  to 
look  at  him  Avhen  he  was  stretched  under  a  tree,  and, 
eying  him  at  first  from  a  respectful  distance,  gradually 
approached  till  they  would  jump  over  him  (a  privilege 
for  which  each  one  paid  a  sou),  thinking  it  would  give 
them  courage ;  and  the  old  lion,  whether  it  was  that 
he  was  so  gentle,  or  that  he  was  too  proud  to  notice  such 
petty  creatures,  did  not  resent  the  familiarity,  where- 
upon even  the  women  grew  bold,  and,  creeping  up  be- 
hind, gave  a  bound  over  the  monster,  thinking  it  would 
make  them  the  mothers  of  those  who  should  be  tlie 
heroes  of  their  tribe. 

Those  who  come  to  Biskra  for  a  winter,  expecting  to 
find  all  the  gayeties  to  which  they  have  been  accustomed 
in  Paris  or  Nice,  may  be  disappointed,  for  it  has  not  yet 
had  such  a  flood  of  fashion  that  it  can  take  its  pleasui-es 
on  a  scale  quite  so  extensive.     But  in  its  own  primitive 


AN    AFRICAN    PET 


GOING  DOWN  INTO  THE  UESEKT  125 

African  way  it  has  attractions  that  even  the  lovers  of 
sport  need  not  despise.  If  its  races  are  not  got  up  with 
all  the  splendor  of  the  Grand  Prix,  yet  it  is  a  pictu- 
resque siglit  when  the  Bedaween  dash  by  as  they  ride  on 
the  desert.  Their  feats  on  horseback  always  excite  the 
wildest  enthusiasm  of  their  foreign  spectators.  But  if 
one  who  is  quite  content  with  the  races  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne  would  have  a  variety  in  his  entertainment,  he 
can  have  camel  races  where  the  swift  dromedaries,  trained 
for  the  purpose,  achieve  a  speed  that  takes  him  by  sur- 
"prise;  or  ostrich  races,  in  which  it  is  hard  to  tell  whether 
the  winged  creatures  run  or  fly ;  or,  if  he  must  have 
something  with  more  of  the  element  of  the  chase,  he 
may  be  interested  to  see  the  falconers  ride  into  the  field, 
each  with  a  bird  mounted  on  his  saddle-bow  (and  per- 
haps another  on  his  shoulder)  whose  ej^esight  is  keener 
and  whose  dash  is  swifter  than  that  of  man.  Look  at 
that  bearded  sheik  as  he  tosses  his  bird  into  the  air. 
Instantly  it  detects  any  small  game  running  on  the 
ground,  upon  which  it  darts  with  almost  the  swiftness  of 
lifjhtning.  This  use  of  birds  in  hunting  reminds  those 
who  have  been  in  India  of  the  use  which  British  officers 
make  of  animal  intelligence  when  they  go  out  with  the 
cheetah,  a  species  of  leopard  that  is  trained  to  hunting 
deer.  As  soon  as  it  is  let  loose  it  snuffs  the  prey,  and, 
crouching  in  the  tall  grass,  creeps  nearer  and  nearer,  not 
to  spring  upon  it,  but  to  start  it  into  the  open,  where  the 
hunter  can  see  it  and  spur  his  horse  in  pursuit ;  all  which 
gives  an  excitement  to  the  chase  that  the  hunter  could 
not  find  if  he  had  to  take  his  gun  and  plunge  into  the 
jungle  alone. 

But  for  those  of  us  who  care  not  for  the  race  or  the 
chase,  Biskra  offers  a  retreat  such  as  one  could  hardly 


126  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

find,  except  in  the  heart  of  some  great  forest.  A  French 
gentleman  with  fortune,  leisure,  and  taste — three  things 
that  need  to  be  combined  for  such  a  purpose — has  de- 
voted himself  to  forming  here  a  botanical  garden,  chiefly 
of  tropical  plants  and  trees.  As  the  enclosure  is  a  large 
one,  including  many  acres,  and  completely  filled,  one 
may  lose  himself  in  its  shades  almost  as  if  he  were  in  the 
"  pathless  woods."  But  these  are  not  pathless,  for  the 
grounds  are  laid  out  with  exquisite  taste,  wide  paths  and 
avenues  winding  here  and  there,  leading  up  to  innumer- 
able points  of  beauty.  The  effect  of  the  sudden  contrast 
— for  this  tropical  garden  is  on  the  very  border  of  the 
desert — is  at  once  a  surprise  and  an  enchantment.  Here 
one  may  spend  hours,  or  even  days,  sauntering  under  the 
avenues  of  palms,  or  resting  in  some  quiet  nook,  and 
forget  all  that  is  painful  to  eye  or  heart  or  brain  in 
this  poor,  dull,  weary  world.  And  when  it  is  remem- 
bered that  all  this  is  open  to  the  public,  it  becomes  a 
benefaction  beyond  all  price  to  the  poor  as  well  as  the 
rich ;  and  those  who  are  privileged  to  enjoy  it,  if  they 
may  not  compensate  him  who  provides  it,  may  at  least 
express  their  grateful  appreciation  of  his  generosity. 

The  one  excursion  that  all  who  come  to  Biskra  must 
make,  is  to  the  tomb  of  Sidi  Okba,  the  warrior  who,  in  less 
than  sixty  years  after  the  death  of  Mohammed,  carried 
the  faith  of  Islam  across  jS^orthern  Africa,  from  Egypt  to 
Morocco,  for  which  he  has  always  been  held  in  a  rever- 
ence next  to  that  for  the  Prophet  himself ;  and  the  place 
w^here  he  is  buried  has  been  a  sort  of  second  Mecca,  to 
which  it  was  a  pious  act  for  Moslems  to  make  a  pilgrim- 
age, as  they  have  been  doing  for  these  twelve  hundred 
years. 

It  is  a  two  hours'  drive  from  Biskra,  half  a  mile  from 


GOING   DOWN   INTO   THE   DESERT  127 

which  we  had  to  cross  the  bed- of  a  river  that  reminded 
me  of  the  Wadys  in  the  Desert  of  Sinai,  since,  like  them, 
its  channel  is  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year  as  dry  as 
the  desert  around  it,  and  yet  at  times  is  filled  from  bank 
to  bank  with  a  foaming,  rushing  river.  But  in  a  few 
hours  the  flood  sweeps  by,  leaving  only  a  bed  of  stones, 
over  which  it  was  hard  work  for  the  horses  to  draw  our 
carriage.  But  as  we  climbed  the  bank  on  the  other  side, 
we  met  a  truly  African  sight  in  the  caravans  that  came 
swinging  along  the  dusty  road.  There  is  something 
grand  in  the  stride  of  these  marchers  of  the  desert. 
Some  bore  heavy  burdens  on  their  backs,  whose  battered 
appearance  told  of  a  long,  long  journey.  From  whence 
had  they  come  ?  Were  they  laden  with  ivory  from  the 
Soudan,  or  had  they  made  a  forty  days'  or  a  sixty  days' 
march  from  Timbuctoo  ? 

When  at  last  we  reached  the  sacred  shrine,  we  could 
well  believe  that  the  mosque  which  covers  it  was  the 
oldest  in  Africa,  for  it  has  the  dust  of  ages  upon  it. 
The  only  attractive  thing  about  it  is  the  view  from  the 
minaret,  which  is  made  beautiful  by  contrast,  as  the  eye 
looks  over  the  town  to  the  palms  beyond,  that  to  some 
degree  bury  it  out  of  sight.  Descending  to  the  floor  of 
the  mosque,  we  enter  with  slippered  feet,  and  approach 
the  sacred  spot,  where  a  curtain  is  drawn  aside,  and, 
looking  in,  we  see  what  appears  to  be  the  warrior's 
coffin,  covered  with  a  pall,  and  take  for  granted  that  he 
is  inside  of  it,  and  are  glad  of  this  assurance  that  he  is 
dead,  stone  dead,  dead  as  a  door  nail !  Indeed,  I  think 
it  would  have  been  just  as  well  if  this  man  had  never 
been  born,  since  he  was,  like  Attila,  the  scourge  of  God, 
who  swept  across  Africa,  killing  and  conquering,  till  he 
was  stopped  by  the  ocean,  when  he  spurred  his  horse 


128  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

into  the  waves  up  to  the  bridle,  and,  lifting  his  sword  to 
heaven,  swore  that  nothing  but  the  barrier  by  which  the 
Almighty  himself  had  set  bounds  to  his  career  kept  hira 
from  carrying  the  faith  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and 
putting  to  death  all  who  did  not  submit  to  its  power! 
Over  the  tomb  of  such  a  man  we  do  not  need  to  shed 
tears ;  on  the  contrary,  our  sense  of  justice  is  satisfied 
when  we  read  that  at  the  last  he  who  took  the  sword 
perished  by  the  sword.  Perchance  some  pangs  of  re- 
morse smote  him  at  the  end,  if  he  dictated  the  inscrip- 
tion :  "  This  is  the  tomb  of  Okba,  the  son  of  Nafa. 
May  God  have  mercy  upon  him ! "  But  what  mercy 
could  he  ask,  who  had  none  to  give  ?  "  He  shall  have 
judgment  without  mercy,  who  hath  showed  no  mercy." 

IE  making  this  warrior's  tomb  a  place  of  pilgrimage 
"were  intended  to  strengthen  faith  in  the  religion  for 
which  he  fought  and  died,  it  can  only  have  that  effect 
upon  those  who  have  not  read  the  history  of  IS'orthern 
Africa.  For  centuries  this  was  a  part  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  and  shared  in  the  benefits  of  Roman  civilization. 
Then  it  became  a  very  important  part  of  the  Christian 
world.  Here  lived  many  of  the  Christian  Fathers. 
Churches  rose  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  and 
shone  like  light-houses  far  out  upon  the  sea.  All  this 
was  swept  away  by  the  Arab  conquest,  and  a  night  of 
more  than  a  thousand  years  settled  down  upon  Africa. 
History,  which  has  to  tell  of  such  destroyers  of  mankind 
as  Gengis  Khan  and  Tamerlane,  has  on  its  bloody  roll 
the  name  of  no  one  who  was  a  greater  curse  to  the 
human  race  than  the  warrior  who  lies  buried  here. 

The  heaviest  doom  of  all  has  fallen  upon  his  own 
people,  as  witness  this  very  spot ;  for  it  would  be  hard  to 
find,  even  in  Africa,  more  wretched  specimens  of  human- 


QOING  DOWN   INTO   THE   DESERT  129 

ity  than  those  that  crouch  and  crowd  in  the  shadow  of 
his  tomb.  The  town  is  a  miserable  African  village,  com- 
posed of  houses  of  mud  dried  in  the  sun,  in  which  the 
people  live  in  squalid  poverty.  Men,  with  hardly  cloth- 
ing to  cover  their  nakedness,  sprawl  in  the  streets, 
leaning  their  backs  against  the  walls,  idle,  shiftless,  and 
worthless.  And  yet  these  very  men,  if  they  would  but 
rouse  themselves  from  this  lethargy,  and  stand  up  upon 
their  feet,  would  show  figures  as  straight  as  Indians, 
with  a  proud  bearing,  as  if  they  were  still  the  lords  of 
the  desert.  This  Arab  stock  has  in  it  all  the  elements 
of  power,  and  it  is  one  of  the  indictments  against  Islam 
that  it  has  enervated  and  destroyed  a  manly  and  a 
mighty  race.  The  children,  too,  come  into  the  world  as 
well  favored  as  other  children,  with  eyes  as  bright 
as  those  of  the  Italian  children  that  furnish  subjects 
for  so  many  artists.  Even  when  they  run  after  the  car- 
riage for  pennies,  you  can  but  smile  at  the  cunning  of 
the  little  imps,  who  give  you  winks  and  nods  to  take  you 
on  your  weak  side,  till  you  toss  them  a  few  tuppence,  in 
spite  of  your  better  judgment. 

But  it  is  upon  the  women  that  falls  the  extreme  of 
poverty  and  all  that  it  brings.  However  pretty  they 
may  be  when,  young,  they  have  to  carry  burdens  that 
soon  break  their  backs  and  their  spirits,  till  they  fade, 
and  at  last  wither  up  into  the  hags  that  we  saw  to-day, 
sitting  by  the  road  and  stretching  out  their  hands  in  utter 
want  and  misery.  Such  is  the  curse  of  Islam  upon  man- 
hood and  Avomanhood  and  childhood.  Sidi  Okba  has 
long  since  passed  from  the  world,  but  if  his  spirit  lives, 
he  must  see  the  retribution  that  waits  on  crime  in  the 
wretchedness  that  gathers  round  his  grave. 

We  rode  home  in  a  thoughtful  mood.  It  is  not  a 
9 


130  THE   BARBAE Y    COAST 

cheerful  sight  to  look  on  human  degradation,  and  the 
darkness  deepens  when  the  outer  world  is  also  in  shadow, 
as  if  the  curse  of  God  had  fallen  alike  on  nature  and  on 
man.  As  the  afternoon  sun  shone  on  the  slope  of  the 
Aures  Mountains,  it  brought  out  in  fuller  relief  their 
riiggedness  and  barrenness,  making  the  landscape  more 
dreary  than  before,  till  the  very  winds  of  the  desert 
seemed  to  moan  over  the  mighty  desolation. 

To-night  I  must  confess  that  Africa  sits  heavy  on  my 
soul.  It  is  the  Dark  Continent  indeed.  And  is  this  all 
to  which  it  has  come  in  the  thousands  of  years  of  its  his- 
tor}'' — to  be  given  up  to  the  most  brutal  despotism  that 
ever  trampled  upon  human  beings,  and  to  know  even 
religion  only  in  its  lowest  and  most  cruel  forms,  in  feti- 
chisra  and  witchcraft,  in  devil  worship  and  human  sacri- 
fices ?  This  is  a  dark  picture.  But  is  there  not  another 
side  to  it?  Can  we  not  find  some  rays  of  light  in  all 
this  gloom,  some  twinkling  stars  in  the  dark  night  of 
Africa  ? 


CHAPTER  XII 

A   EAILKOAD    ACROSS    THE    SAHARA 

I  STOOD  on  the  edge  of  the  desert,  as  on  the  shore  of 
the  sea.  It  was  the  same  "  gray  and  melancholy  waste," 
with  nought  to  break  the  silence  and  solitude.  There  is 
no  life  there,  for  the  desert  drinks  it  up  as  the  sea  drinks 
up  the  river.  "Whatever  ventures  out  upon  it  is  quickly 
swallowed  up  and  lost.  Here  is  a  caravan  on  the  march  ! 
"With  what  majestic  stride  the  camels  sweep  through  this 
avenue  of  palms,  and  sail  out  upon  the  ocean  of  the  desert. 
An  hour  passes,  and  they  have  sunk  below  the  horizon, 
like  the  swift  ships,  and  are  no  more  seen.  Talk  not  of 
the  all-devouring  sea,  but  of  the  all-devouring  desert,  in 
which  lie  the  bones  of  innumerable  generations,  until  it 
has  become  the  sepulchre  of  the  world. 

"What  an  expanse  it  must  be  to  receive  these  armies 
of  the  dead!  It  spans  the  continent,  beginning  on  the 
Atlantic,  and  stretching  to  the  Eed  Sea,  except  where  the 
Nile  bursts  through  it,  and  makes  one  strip  of  verdure 
that  is  called  Egypt.  JSTor  does  the  desert  limit  itself  to 
Africa ;  but,  leaping  over  the  Red  Sea,  reappears  in  Arabia 
Deserta,  and  again  in  Persia,  and  even  far  away  in 
Beloochistan,  at  the  foot  of  the  Himalayas.  This  is 
what  is  known  to  geographers  as  the  Desert  Belt,  which 
binds  like  a  girdle  of  fire  so  large  a  part  of  the  habitable 
globe. 

But  taking  only  the  portion  of  desert  which  is  in  Africa, 
the  Sahara  is  a  continent  in  itself.     It  is  longer  than  the 


182  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

Mediterranean,  larger  than  Russia — larger,  indeed,  than 
all  Europe,  leaving  out  Norway  and  Sweden.  "  It  is 
longer  than  the  earth,  and  broader  than  the  sea." 

In  this  single  fact  lies  the  great  barrier  to  African 
civilization.  The  cause  of  degradation  is  not  moral,  but 
physical.  It  is  not  because  the  people  are  more  debased 
than  other  races  of  men,  but  because  the  very  configura- 
tion of  the  continent  forbids  their  expansion  by  a  free 
intercourse  with  the  rest  of  mankind.  This  is  the  burden 
of  Africa,  that  weighs  it  down  more  than  a  thousand 
Atlas  Mountains. 

It  is  not  the  mere  extent  of  the  Sahara  that  makes  it  so 
formidable,  but  its  position  as  relative  to  the  whole  con- 
tinent. If  it  were  off  somewhere  by  itself,  detached  from 
the  rest  of  Africa,  or  connected  with  it  only  by  a  nar- 
row isthmus,  as  are  North  and  South  America,  it  might 
remain  forever  a  blasted,  blighted  portion  of  the  earth's 
surface,  miserable  itself,  but  doing  no  harm  to  others. 
But  the  Sahara  has  no  idea  of  giving  place  to  anything 
or  anybody,  but  plants  itself  right  in  the  forefront  of 
Africa,  and  takes  the  lion's  share  of  the  continent, 
shouldering  off  its  neighbors  into  nooks  and  corners, 
or  crowding  them  into  the  sea.  Thus  it  dislocates  all 
the  internal  relations  of  the  continent,  and  does,  in  the 
way  of  separation,  what  no  device  or  wickedness  of  man 
could  ever  conceive.  If  the  ancient  populations  of  Africa, 
North  and  South,  had  been  at  war  for  ages,  and  finally 
built  a  hundred  Chinese  "Walls  to  keep  them  apart,  they 
could  not  be  so  completely  separated  as  they  are  by  the 
Desert  of  Sahara. 

Such  is  the  tremendous  burden  that  Africa  has  to 
carry.  Is  there  any  way  to  get  rid  of  it  ?  If  it  could 
only  be  taken  out  of  the  continent  of  which  it  is  the 


A  RAILROAD   ACROSS  THE   SAHARA  133 

unending  curse,  and  sunk  in  the  sea,  the  Avaves  would 
roll  over  it,  and  it  would  be  remembered  no  more  for- 
ever. 

But  some  have  thought  that,  while  the  Sahara  cannot 
be  taken  up  and  cast  into  the  sea,  the  sea  may  be 
brought  to  it,  by  letting  in  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic, 
whereby  the  desert  would  be  converted  into  another 
Mediterranean,  The  idea  has  found  favor  in  some  minds 
from  an  impression  that  in  prehistoric  times  it  was  the 
bed  of  a  sea ;  indeed,  they  think  to  have  found  traces 
of  sand  dunes  left  where  its  mighty  waters  dashed  upon 
the  shore.  And  so  they  reason,  that,  where  once  the 
waters  stood,  they  might  be  made  to  flow  again.  But  a 
more  careful  geological  inquiry  indicates  that  the  sands 
of  the  desert  are  due  to  other  causes  still  at  work,  as  they 
have  been  at  work  from  the  beginning  of  time — the 
storms  that  have  swept  the  plains  for  thousands  of  years, 
in  which  the  rocks  have  been  splintered  by  lightnings, 
and  worn  away  by  rains,  till  they  crumbled  into  sand  that 
was  swept  far  and  wide  by  the  winds  of  the  desert. 
Equally  misleading  is  the  idea  that  the  Sahara  is  a  vast 
plain  of  even  surface,  and  below  the  level  of  the  sea ; 
whereas  a  large  part  of  it  is  a  vast  plateau,  broken  here 
and  there  by  lofty  mountains.  This  disposes  at  once  of 
any  glittering  project  of  a  canal  to  connect  the  Sahara 
with  the  Atlantic ;  for  if  there  were  a  canal  as  wide  as 
the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  with  the  waters  rushing  into  it 
as  fast,  water  cannot  flow  up  hill,  and  the  vast  area  of  the 
Sahara  is,  on  an  average,  fifteen  hundred  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea. 

Here  then  is  the  Great  Desert,  the  one  tremendous 
reality  that  can  never  be  forgotten  in  any  scheme  to  solve 
the  problem  of  Africa.    You  cannot  ignore  it,  or  hide  it, 


134  THE   BAEBARY   COAST 

or  forget  it.  You  cannot  bury  it  out  of  sight.  You 
cannot  drown  it,  for  in  spite  of  you  it  will  come  to  tlie 
surface,  insisting  on  keeping  its  head  above  water  and 
above  ground,  crowding  out  fertile  portions  of  the  earth, 
while  its  barrenness  renders  it  unfit  for  human  habitation. 
There  it  lies  on  the  face  of  Africa,  a  huge  black  spot, 
deserted  by  man,  as  it  seems  to  be  accursed  by  God.  No 
man  passes  by  it  or  willingly  puts  his  foot  thereon.  Even 
the  lonely  caravan,  that  skims  it  like  a  bird,  leaves  no 
track  behind  it  any  more  than  the  bird  in  the  air  or  the 
ship  on  the  sea.  It  passes  and  is  gone,  leaving  not  a  trace 
of  life  in  man,  or  beast,  or  bird,  or  any  living  thing.  So 
far  as  we  can  see,  the  desert  is  an  utterly  worthless 
portion  of  the  globe. 

With  such  an  incubus  covering  one-third  of  Africa, 
there  would  seem  to  be  little  hope  of  making  anything 
out  of  it,  since  the  cause  which  renders  its  condition  so 
hopeless  cannot  be  removed.  We  cannot  abolish  the 
desert  any  more  than  we  can  abolish  the  sea.  There  it  is, 
and  there  it  will  remain  forever !  We  can  get  over  the  sea 
in  ships,  or  under  it  by  telegraphs,  so  that  it  is  no  longer 
a  bar  to  the  intercourse  of  nations.  Is  there  any  way  of 
taming  the  desert,  or  of  subduing  it,  so  that  it  shall  no 
longer  be  a  barrier  to  the  progress  of  civilization  ?  This 
is  the  most  important  question  to  be  settled,  as  bearing 
upon  the  future  of  Africa. 

Of  course,  if  it  were  left  to  the  native  inhabitants,  all 
things  would  continue  as  they  were  from  the  beginning 
of  the  creation.  Nor  has  Europe  at  large  any  interest  in 
it.  But  there  is  one  European  power  that  has  an  interest 
in  it.  France  has  large  possessions  on  this  side  of  the 
Mediterranean.  Algeria  and  Tunis  together  make  a 
country  as  large  as  one  of  the  kingdoms  of  Europe,. 


A    RAILROAD   ACROSS  THE   SAHARA  135 

which  France  has  the  ambition  to  enlarge  still  further, 
so  as  to  have  a  great  African  Empire,  as  England  has  her 
Indian  Empire.  As  part  of  the  material  for  this  she  has 
another  great  dependency  in  Senegambia,  on  the  western 
coast,  a  country  covering  four  hundred  thousand  square 
miles.  If  this  could  in  any  way  be  united  to  Algeria,  if 
the  two  could  be  consolidated,  the  new  empire  would  at 
once  assume  vast  proportions.  But  the  desert  blocks  the 
way.  It  splits  the  proposed  empire  like  a  wedge.  It  can- 
not be  removed,  but  is  there  not  some  way  in  which  it  can 
be  converted  into  a  keystone  for  the  mighty  arch  that  is  to 
span  the  continent  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Atlan- 
tic? That  is  the  problem  which  has  long  exercised  the 
minds  of  French  statesmen,  and  which  they  in  turn  have 
referred  to  their  engineers,  who  are  among  the  best  in 
the  world  ;  with  what  result  may  be  briefly  indicated. 

First  of  all,  they  have  shown  that  it  is  possible  to  con- 
vert portions  of  the  desert  into  oases  by  the  sinking  of 
artesian  wells.  A  hundred  and  forty  miles  south  of  Bis- 
kra is  the  oasis  of  Tuggurt,  which  had  long  supported 
thousands  of  Arabs,  with  their  flocks  and  herds,  but 
which  was  nearly  destroyed  some  years  since  by  the  wells 
becoming  so  choked  up  as  no  longer  to  furnish  a  supply 
of  water.  Vegetation  withered,  until  the  wretched  peo- 
ple, stripped  of  what  was  to  them  the  very  water  of  life, 
and  too  ignorant  to  be  able  to  renew  the  supply,  were 
in  despair,  and  began  to  leave  the  country.  Then  the 
French  engineers  took  the  matter  in  hand,  and,  instead 
of  trying  to  clear  out  the  old  wells,  commenced  boring 
into  the  solid  earth,  and  "in  five  weeks  struck  water  to 
such  good  purpose  that  a  river  rushed  forth  that  yielded 
double  the  quantity  furnished  by  the  great  well  of  Gre- 
nelle  in  Paris.     To  the  Arabs  it  seemed  like  a  miracle, 


136  THE   BAKBAEY   COAST 

and  they  began  to  sing  and  dance  in  the  wildest  manner 
to  express  their  joy.  The  miracle  was  one  which  can  be 
wrought  wherever  men  are  willing  to  take  the  labor  or 
bear  the  expense.  Of  course,  to  accomplish  a  large  result 
in  the  way  of  pasturage  or  agriculture,  it  would  have  to 
be  repeated  on  a  tremendous  scale. 

But  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  the  two  vast  territories 
of  Algeria  and  Senegambia,  the  first  necessity  is  that  of 
direct  communication,  which  can  only  be  by  a  railroad 
across  the  Desert  of  Sahara.  Is  this  within  the  bounds 
of  possibility  ? 

Nobody's  opinion  is  of  any  value  except  that  of  one  who 
has  made  a  special  study  of  the  subject.  In  Algiers  the 
American  Consul  took  me  to  see  Mr.  Broussais,  who  has 
taken  long  journeys  into  the  desert  to  survey  the  field  of 
operation.  He  did  not  conceal  from  himself  the  enor- 
mous difficulties  of  traversing  fifteen  hundred  miles,  with 
the  want  of  water,  the  want  of  wood  for  railroad 
ties,  the  want  of  everything.  He  looked  in  the  face  the 
possibility  of  those  sand  storms  which  might  bury  a 
railroad  train,  as  they  have  buried  a  thousand  caravans. 
All  this  he  had  taken  into  consideration,  and  yet,  looking 
all  obstacles  and  all  dangers  in  the  face,  he  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  assure  me  that,  in  his  judgment,  a  railroad  across 
the  Desert  of  Sahara  was  quite  within  the  resources  of 
modern  eng'ineerinor. 

As  to  building  a  road  across  a  treeless  country,  where 
there  is  neither  wood  nor  water,  he  Avould  take  a  lesson 
from  our  own  experience  in  the  march  across  the  conti- 
nent, where  materials  were  supplied  by  the  railroad 
itself,  which,  as  fast  as  it  was  laid  down,  transported 
the  ties  and  rails  to  carry  it  farther.  The  same  system 
is  pursued  by  the  Russians  in  building  the  Trans-Cas- 


A  RAILROAD  ACROSS  THE   SAHARA  137 

plan  Railroad,  which,  they  are  extending  so  far  to  the 
east. 

As  to  the  route  to  be  followed,  he  took  down  his  maps 
and  showed  me  the  lines  that  he  had  traced.  Of  course 
he  would  take  advantage  of  every  facility  that  nature 
offered  in  the  numerous  oases  that  are  scattered  over  the 
desert,  which  he  would  use  as  stepping  stones,  advancing 
from  one  to  another,  as  it  were  from  island  to  island,  in  the 
ocean  of  the  desert.  As  he  approached  the  southern 
"  shore,"  he  would  divide  his  trunk  line  in  two,  with  one 
arm  reaching  southeastward  to  Lake  Tchad,  while  the 
other  was  swung  to  the  southwest  till  it  struck  the  bend 
of  the  Niger  above  Timbuctoo,  down  which  steamers 
could  descend  to  Senegambia. 

Such  is  the  magnificent  scheme  which  is  now  seriously 
entertained  by  the  French  Government.  Difficult  it  is  to 
the  verge  of  impossibility.  But  this  is  an  age  of  great 
enterprises,  and  we  can  hardly  say  that  anything  is  im- 
possible. The  cost  may  run  up  to  hundreds  or  thou- 
sands of  millions.  But  it  would  be  undertaken  by  one  of 
the  richest  countries  in  the  world,  a  country  that  has 
already  thrown  away  its  millions  in  less  hopeful  enter- 
prises. The  money  that  has  been  sunk  in  the  Panama 
Canal  would  go  far  towards  carrying  out  the  project  in 
the  Sahara.  If  Russia  can  build  a  railroad  across  Asia, 
why  should  not  France  build  one  across  Africa  ? 

When  I  heard  a  man,  who  Avas  not  an  enthusiast  or  a 
visionary,  talk  soberly  of  an  enterprise  like  this,  it  took 
hold  at  once  of  my  imagination.  And  especially  when  I 
found  myself  travelling  over  the  road — for  it  is  already 
beofun,  the  road  to  Biskra  beinor  the  first  stage  of  it — it 
seemed  as  if  the  vision  were  already  passing  into  a 
reality ;  and  feeling  at  liberty  to  indulge  in  some  extrava- 


138  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

gances,  I  imagined  travellers  from  the  north,  fifty  years 
hence,  or  it  may  be  only  twenty-five,  coming  to  the 
very  station  which  I  see  from  my  window,  and  bustling 
about  eagerly,  as  they  hear  the  conductor  shouting  his 
last  call,  "  All  on  board  for  Timbuctoo !  " 

These  are  the  dreams  that  I  dream  here  in  Africa  and 
in  the  Desert  of  Sahara.  But  were  the  dream  already 
fulfilled,  the  desert  crossed,  and  the  tide  of  travel  in  full 
course,  the  whole  African  problem  would  not  be  solved. 
This  would  be  one  step  towards  it.  It  would  pierce 
Africa  at  a  vital  point.  It  would  overcome  the  greatest 
difficulty  in  her  geography.  It  would  touch  regions 
otherwise  inaccessible.  It  would  take  the  Soudan  in  the 
rear.  It  would  make  a  direct  connection  with  the  west- 
ern coast,  to  take  the  place  of  the  long  ocean  voyage. 

But  while  the  Desert  of  Sahara  is  the  greatest  barrier 
to  its  civilization,  it  is  not  the  only  physical  disadvantage 
with  which  poor  Africa  has  to  contend.  Another  is  found 
in  her  climate,  one  of  the  greatest  factors  in  the  life  of  any 
country,  since  on  it  depends  not  only  the  vigor  of  its 
warriors,  but  the  strength  of  a  whole  people.  The  line 
of  the  equator  crosses  Africa  near  its  centre,  while  it 
passes  a  hundred  miles  south  of  Singapore,  the  most 
southern  point  of  Asia.  Thus  it  cuts  Africa  in  two,  so 
that  the  central  portion  of  the  continent  lies  within  the 
tropics.  Was  there  ever  an  instance  since  the  world 
stood,  of  a  great  empire  that  was  pivoted  on  that  burn- 
ing line?  Egypt  and  Carthage  were  in  tlie  extreme 
north,  where  they  had  the  bracing  air  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean to  give  life  to  their  busy  populations.  But  in 
the  heart  of  Africa,  man  is  crushed  by  nature.  Nature 
itself  may  flourish.  Trees  will  grow  where  men  perish. 
Mighty  forests  spring  out  of  the  very  swamps  that  sap 


A   RAILROAD  ACROSS   THE    SAHARA  139 

human  life.  Exposed  to  enervating  heat,  it  is  not  strange 
that  Africans  sink  into  idleness.  What  race  could  keep 
its  vigor  under  such  conditions  ?  Would  those  who  de- 
spise them  do  better  ?  If  the  most  hardy  men  of  the 
north,  our  own  New  Englanders,  or  the  Highlanders  of 
Scotland,  were  transplanted  to  the  valley  of  the  Congo, 
how  long  would  they  remain  the  men  that  they  are  ?  If 
they  were  not  carried  off  by  fevers;  if  they  became  so 
far  acclimated  as  to  live  in  Africa ;  they  might  retain 
somewhat  of  their  native  vigor  for  one  or  two  generations  ; 
but  by  and  by  their  iron  frames  would  bend,  and  they 
would  find  how  grateful  it  is  to  take  refuge  from  the 
noontide  heat  under  the  shade  of  palms,  l^ext  to  the 
Sahara,  the  climate  of  Africa  has  done  more  than  all  else 
to  decide  her  fate.  Her  doom  has  been  written  in  the 
heavens,  in  the  fiery  sun  over  her  head.  This  is  her  mis- 
fortune, but  certainly  not  her  fault.  Did  she  choose  her 
climate?  Did  she  distribute  the  land  and  water  of  the 
globe  so  that  her  bared  and  naked  breast  should  lie  under 
the  burning  sun  of  the  equator  ? 

"  But  all  Africa  does  not  lie  under  the  equator.  This  is 
true  only  of  Central  Africa,  and  not  of  the  lake  regions  of 
the  north,  nor  of  the  more  healthy  regions  of  the  south." 
Yes  ;  but  even  these  more  temperate  zones  are  not  exempt 
from  a  curse,  for  where  they  border  on  the  sea,  they  are 
shut  in  by  a  pestilential  coast,  which  renders  them  difficult 
of  access  to  the  outside  world.  The  continent  is  hemmed 
in  on  both  sides — whichever  way  it  looks,  whether  it 
faces  the  Indian  Ocean  or  the  Atlantic — by  a  jungle  of 
swamps  and  morasses,  one  or  two  hundred  miles  wide, 
requiring  days  or  weeks  to  cross,  at  the  risk  of  life,  before 
reaching  the  highlands  of  the  interior.  This  has  been  the 
great  obstacle  to  exploration  from  the  east  or  the  west. 


140  THE  BARBARY  COAST 

Wherever  Europeans  approached  Africa,  they  found  it 
barred  against  thera,  as  if  the  angel  of  death  stood  upon 
the  shore  with  flamino;  sword,  forbiddinof  them  to  enter. 
Missionaries,  who  could  not  be  restrained  in  their  desire 
to  preach  the  Gospel  on  the  Dark  Continent,  have  often 
paid  for  their  devotion  with  their  lives.  This  has  spread 
such  a  terror  along  the  coast,  that  some  whose  duty  called 
them  to  it  for  a  few  days  have  thought  it  prudent  not  to  set 
foot  upon  it  except  at  certain  hours.  It  has  been  made 
a  matter  of  reproach  to  the  Methodist  bishops  who  were 
appointed  to  visit  Liberia,  that  they  went  on  shore  only  in 
the  daytime,  and  came  on  board  ship  at  night.  But  with 
all  these  precautions,  Bishop  Haven  took  the  fever  and 
died  on  his  return  home.  The  only  man  that  I  have  ever 
known  who  was  proof  against  it  is  Bishop  Taylor;  but 
he  has  an  iron  frame,  that  is  like  a  coat  of  mail  to  ward 
off  all  attacks.  For  most  persons  the  climate  is  deadly ; 
and  it  is  no  unmanly  fear,  but  common  prudence,  to  take 
every  precaution  against  so  great  a  danger.  Still  more 
may  those  who  are  called  to  Africa,  not  by  duty  but  by 
interest,  be  excused  if  they  think  it  wiser  to  turn  their 
enterprise  to  other  quarters  of  the  globe. 

But  in  what  condition  does  this  leave  the  native  popu- 
lation ?  They  have  no  ships  to  take  them  to  other  coun- 
tries, save,  alas,  the  Arab  dhows,  laden  with  slaves,  that 
hide  in  inlets  along  the  coast,  till  they  can  steal  out  at 
night,  and  cross  the  Red  Sea,  and  land  their  wretched 
cargoes.  This  want  of  commerce  is  a  privation  for  any 
people,  even  though  they  were  the  most  intelligent  and 
cultivated,  for  continual  movement  to  and  fro  is  a  part  of 
the  life  of  nations  as  truly  as  of  the  life  of  the  sea.  It  is 
like  the  circulation  of  blood  in  the  human  body.  If  a  man 
does  not  stir  out  of  his  place,  he  must  be  able,  at  least, 


A   RAILROAD  ACROSS  THE  SAHARA  141 

to  let  his  thoughts  fly,  like  the  birds  of  the  air,  which 
must  be  kept  on  the  wing  if  they  would  not  sink  to  the 
earth,  exhausted  aud  dvino:.  All  o^reat  nations  have  been 
commercial  nations,  from  Greece  and  Phoenicia  to  Eng- 
land and  America. 

But  Africa,  poor  Africa,  is  excluded  from  this  free  life, 
enclosed,  as  she  is,  as  by  a  prison  wall.  She  cannot  go  to 
others,  and  others  cannot  come  to  her.  Shut  in  by  her 
swamps  and  her  forests,  she  is  out  of  the  great  currents 
of  humanity  that  flow  back  and  forth  like  the  tides  of  the 
sea,  and  is  thus  entirely  outside  of  the  life  of  the  world. 

Is  not  this  total  isolation  quite  enough  to  account  for 
her  barbarism  ?  Can  such  a  people  be  anything  else  than 
ignorant  and  degraded  ?  If  Africa  were  brought  to  the 
bar  of  nations  to  answer  for  herself,  might  she  not  say, 
"  All  these  things  were  against  me  "  ?  Her  barbarism 
does  not  necessarily  imply  the  worthlessness  of  her  peo- 
ple. Let  us  not  exult  over  her.  It  would  be  more  worthy 
of  civilized  nations  to  reach  out  a  hand  to  lift  her  out 
of  a  condition  so  solitary,  in  which  she  has  no  helper  or 
defender. 

In  order  to  come  to  her  relief,  the  first  thing  is  to 
break  through  this  "  dead  line."  Already  this  has  been 
done  to  some  degree.  Hunters  have  plunged  into  the 
jungle  for  the  pleasure  of  the  chase  and  the  excitement 
of  adventure.  Trading  companies  here  and  there  have 
cut  a  road  through  the  forests,  and  launched  small  steamers 
on  the  lakes  and  rivers,  movements  that  have  been  fa- 
vored by  different  governments.  Their  motives  may  not 
have  been  the  most  disinterested,  but  that  does  not  take 
from  the  value  of  the  work  they  have  done.  It  has,  at  least, 
been  demonstrated  that  there  is  no  impassable  barrier  to 
some   mode  of  transit  across   the  jungle.     Whichever 


142  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

power  shall  bridge  this  deadly  coast  line  will  render 
an  immeasurable  service  to  the  civilization  of  Africa, 

In  this  review  of  the  causes  of  the  degradation  of 
Africa,  I  have  aimed  to  plead  her  cause,  by  showing  that 
it  is  not  her  fault ;  that  her  barbarism  is  not  due  to  her 
own  wilfulness  or  wickedness;  that  her  people  are  not 
sinners  more  than  others.  Nor  has  it  been  that  the  curse 
upon  Canaan  has  fallen  upon  the  whole  African  race,  nor 
that  they  are  by  nature  less  capable  of  improvement  than 
Asiatics  or  Europeans ;  but  it  has  been  largely,  perhaps 
chiefly,  owing  to  physical  conditions  over  which  she  had 
jio  control.  The  recognition  of  this  will  lead  us  to  treat 
Africa  with  more  respect,  as  well  as  more  sympathy ; 
with  an  appreciation  of  her  peculiar  difficulties,  that  shall 
lead  to  intelligent  efforts  for  her  elevation  and  reinstate- 
ment in  the  eyes  of  the  world. 

In  material  enterprise  for  the  benefit  of  Africa,  the 
w^orld  looks  to  France  as  more  interested  than  any  other 
European  power.  But  the  whole  work  of  reclaiming  the 
continent  from  barbarism  is  not  to  be  thrown  upon  one 
country.  Other  nations  have  their  part  also.  Within 
a  few  years  there  has  been  a  partition  of  Africa  among 
the  nations  of  Europe,  and  all  who  claim  a  part  in  the 
great  inheritance  must  accept  their  share  of  the  respon- 
sibility. As  all  these  powders  claim  to  be  Christian,  it 
may  be  said  that  Christendom  has  taken  formal  posses- 
sion of  Africa.  Is  it  to  be  anything  more  than  formal, 
as  when  the  Pope  divided  the  New  "World  between  Por- 
tugal and  Spain,  thereby  giving  them  license  to  commit 
the  most  horrible  crimes  against  humanity?  Is  this  per- 
version of  the  name  of  Christ  to  be  repeated  in  this 
century?  And  by  Protestant  as  well  as  by  Catholic 
powers  ?    Not  by  Portugal  or  Spain,  or  even  by  France  ; 


A  RAILROAD  ACROSS  THE  SAHARA       ,143 

but  by  Germany,  by  England,  and  by  America  ?  Could 
there  be  a  greater  shame  to  Christendom  than  the  persist- 
ence of  these  countries  in  forcing  cargoes  of  the  most 
fiery  and  intoxicating  spirits  upon  the  natives  of  the 
Congo,  in  spite  of  tlie  protests  of  their  chiefs  ?  If  this 
pohcy  is  to  be  continued,  Africa  has  as  much  to  fear 
from  foreign  powers  as  to  hope — from  their  jealousy  of 
one  another,  their  rivalships,  their  greed,  and  their  ra- 
pacity. Let  them  not  be  in  such  haste  to  spoil  the 
Egyptians  !  Instead  of  this,  Africa  ought  to  be  the  ward 
of  all  the  Christian  nations  of  the  world.  She  appeals 
to  them  by  her  very  helplessness.  She  is  weak,  and  they 
are  strong ;  she  is  poor,  and  they  are  rich  ;  let  them 
show  a  princely  generosity  in  supplying  her  wants,  both 
moral  and  material.  If  there  could  be  a  Holy  Alliance 
of  all  Christendom  to  protect  Africa  from  injustice  and 
wrong,  and  to  give  her  a  Christian  civilization,  then, 
indeed,  we  might  feel  that  the  day  of  her  redemption 
is  drawing  nigh.  When  the  heart  of  the  continent  is 
pierced  by  a  railroad,  with  lines  converging  from  the 
eastern  and  western  coasts,  she  will  be  compassed  round 
and  invaded,  not  in  a  hostile  way,  from  every  side. 
Then  will  it  be  an  easy  matter  to  put  an  end  to  the  slave 
trade,  and  that  "  open  sore  of  the  world,"  as  Livingstone 
called  it,  will  be  stanched  forever.  Commerce  will  find 
its  way,  not  only  across  the  desert,  but  along  the  lakes 
and  rivers,  and  civilization  and  Christianity  will  follow  in 
its  train.  "We  shall  not  live  to  see  it.  The  work  can 
only  be  begun  in  this  century  ;  its  completion  will  be  the 
great  achievement  of  the  next.  Men  die,  but  God  lives 
and  works  out  his  own  great  designs ;  and  what  we  see  not 
now,  even  by  the  eye  of  faith,  may  yet  be  accomplished 
by  the  greater  courage  of  future  generations. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

FROM   BISKEA    TO    CONSTANXmE 

In  leaving  Biskra  we  rounded  Cape  Horn.  We  had 
reached  the  most  southern  point  of  our  journey  :  we  now 
returned  on  our  course.  In  coming  up  out  of  the  desert 
the  scenes  were  reversed :  instead  of  going  from  light  to 
dark,  we  came  from  dark  to  light ;  from  barrenness  to 
beauty  and  fertility.  As  we  left  the  wilderness  behind 
us,  the  desolateness  brightened  into  life  till,  in  the  after- 
noon, we  were  quite  restored  to  civilization.  "  Just  now," 
said  my  companion,  as  Ave  swept  over  a  beautiful  tract  of 
country,  "  we  might  be  in  the  Mohawk  Valley."  "  Yes," 
I  answered,  "  and  the  parallel  would  be  complete  if  only 
our  American  landscapes  had  for  a  background  these 
glorious  African  mountains." 

In  all  these  landscapes  the  mountains  form  the  most 
imposing  feature.  They  are  very  grand,  and  would  be 
very  beautiful  if  they  were  clothed  with  forests.  The 
plains  suffer  from  the  same  destitution,  in  which  they 
are  like  our  prairies  that  have  been  burnt  over  by  the 
Indians,  after  which  they  spring  up  fresh  and  green,  but 
with  not  a  tree  on  all  the  horizon.  Since  the  French  be- 
came masters  of  the  country,  they  have  made  extensive 
plantations  of  trees.  I  only  wish  they  had  introduced 
some  variety,  and  not  confined  themselves  to  the  eucalyi> 
tus,  which  has  indeed  a  rapid  growth,  and  is  said  to  serve 
a  sanitary  purpose  in  swampy  regions,  as  its  wide- 
spreading  roots  drink  up  the  moisture  that  might  other- 
wise produce  malaria,  while  the  tall  trunks  supply  the 


FROM   BISKRA   TO  CONSTANTINE  145 

country  with  telegraph  poles;  but  which  for  ornament, 
for  beauty  or  for  shade,  is  not  to  be  compared  with  many 
of  the  native  trees  of  Africa  and  of  America.  It  is  not 
to  be  named  beside  the  African  palm,  the  English  oak, 
or  the  American  elm.  It  has  not  even  a  second  or  third 
rate  place  among  forest  trees,  for  it  is  ill-favored  in  every 
feature.  Its  whole  figure  is  lank,  lean,  and  dyspeptic ;  with 
spindling  trunk,  spindling  branches,  and  spindling  leaves. 
It  is  an  unsightly  product  of  nature  to  be  transplanted 
even  to  Darkest  Africa.  Its  one  virtue  is  its  power  of 
drawing  water,  and  for  that  it  might  well  be  planted  in 
swamps,  to  serve  the  homely  but  useful  purpose  of  a  long- 
handled  pump,  to  suck  up  what  cannot  be  drained  off,  and 
thus  turn  the  dank  morass  into  a  meadow.  If  it  really 
affords  some  protection  against  malaria,  I  would  that  it 
were  planted  all  along  the  African  coast.  And  let  it  be 
grown  for  telegraph  poles,  or  bean  poles,  or  even  for  the 
fireplace.  Wood  that  is  good  for  nothing  else  may  be 
good  to  be  burned. 

But  I  do  protest  against  the  disposition,  in  some  parts 
of  America,  especially  in  our  Western  States,  to  adopt 
the  eucalyptus  as  an  ornament  of  private  grounds,  or  to 
plant  it  along  the  streets  of  our  new  towns  and  cities.  It 
is  not  a  native  of  America.  It  comes  from  another  con- 
tinent and  another  hemisphere,  even  all  the  way  from 
Australia.  I  will  not  say  that  it  is  an  escaped  convict 
that  has  taken  refuge  on  our  shores ;  that  ought  not  to 
be  allowed  to  remain,  unless  furnished  with  a  ticket-of- 
leave,  by  the  conditions  of  which  it  might  be  sent  back 
again.  It  would  be  more  gracious  to  say  that  it  is  among 
trees  what  the  gypsy  is  among  civilized  people,  an  un- 
kempt creature,  with  torn  and  tattered  garments  and 
dishevelled  hair.     It  has  not  a  single  beautiful  feature. 

10 


146  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

In  outline  it  somewhat  resembles  the  poplar,  though  it 
has  not  its  symmetry.  What  traveller  in  Lombardy  has 
not  been  wearied  by  the  thousands  of  poplars  along  the 
roads,  each  one  standing  "  stiff  as  a  poker  "  ?  And  yet, 
when  set  in  double  rows  to  form  an  avenue,  leading  up 
to  some  venerable  chateau,  they  have  a  somewhat  stately 
appearance,  as  they  stand  in  line,  like  grenadiers,  as  if  to 
keep  guard  over  the  ancestral  domain,  and  protect  the 
pride  that  still  lingers  there,  from  the  intrusion  of  this 
democratic  age.  But  the  poplar  does  not  flourish  in 
America.  Our  climate  is  not  favorable  to  aristocracy, 
even  in  trees ;  and  the  poplar,  however  high  it  may  lift 
up  its  head,  soon  dies  at  the  top,  while  its  branches  grow 
thin  and  wither,  like  a  proud  old  family  that  has  gone  to 
sfeed.  But  even  in  its  decay  the  poplar  keeps  up  appear- 
ances by  retaining,  if  not  "  full  dress,"  the  one  garment 
that  nature  has  provided  to  clothe  it  withal ;  while  the 
eucalyptus  has  been  stripped  even  of  its  bark,  till  at  last 
it  is  literally  "  naked  and  not  ashamed ! " 

Yet  this  wretched  ghost  of  a  tree  has  become  almost 
a  national  symbol  in  Algeria,  perhaps  because  it  shoots 
up  like  a  gourd.  There  are  large  nurseries  for  its  culti- 
vation. I  have  seen  a  car  loaded  with  plants  in  flower- 
pots for  transplanting.  I  hope  it  is  only  a  temporary 
craze  which  will  have  its  day  in  Africa,  and  a  still 
shorter  day  in  America.  It  would  be  to  disown  that 
which  is  our  countrj^'s  pride,  if  we  were  to  invite  this 
uncouth  product  of  another  hemisphere  to  come  in  and 
crowd  out  our  native  trees — the  majestic  elm,  the  broad- 
spreading  oak,  the  walnut  and  the  chestnut,  the  beech 
and  the  birch,  and  all  the  varied  growths  that  are  the 
glory  of  our  forests.  Our  own  children  are  not  to  be 
disinherited  in  favor  of  this  adventurer. 


FROM   BISKRA  TO  CONSTANTINE  147 

I  write  thus  warmly  as  a  protest  against  the  silliness 
and  affectation  that  would  run  after  that  which  is  foreign, 
^vhen  our  own  trees  are  a  great  deal  better.  Not  even 
in  England  have  I  seen  more  beautiful  villages  than  in 
the  Connecticut  valley,  a  beauty  created  by  the  simple 
forethought  of  our  fathers  in  planting  elms  on  both  sides 
of  the  wide,  long  street,  where  they  have  grown  for  a 
hundred  years,  till  they  lift  their  lofty  crowns  into 
cathedral  arches  above  those  who  walk  reverently  be- 
neath the  mighty  shade. 

The  people  of  America  should  not  forget,  when  they 
are  laying  out  new  towns  and  cities,  that  they  are  plant- 
ing, as  well  as  building,  for  those  who  shall  come  after 
them  ;  and  that  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  beauty  of  their 
homes,  they  should  exercise  such  taste,  that  what  they  do 
shall  be  a  joy  for  future  generations. 

But  trees  and  plains  are  soon  forgotten  in  another 
sight.  The  glory  of  the  day  came  with  the  setting  of 
the  sun,  which,  as  it  struck  across  the  plain,  touched 
with  its  last  rays  a  city  that  was  not  merely  set  on  a 
hill,  but  that  might  almost  be  said  to  be  in  the  clouds, 
as  it  stood  up  with  its  shining  battlements  against  the 
evening  sky.  Every  American  traveller  who  goes  to 
Scotland  is  enchanted  with  his  first  view  of  Edinburgh 
Castle  as  it  soars  above  the  city  at  its  foot.  But  how 
would  the  impression  be  increased  if  the  mighty  rock 
we?'e  broad  enough  to  bear  up  the  whole  city  !  Then 
Edinburgh  would  be  what  Constantino  is.  The  impres- 
sion is  increased  by  its  isolation  ;  for  it  stands  apart,  as 
it  is  cut  off  from  the  surrounding  heights  bv  a  gorge,  worn 
in  the  rocks  by  a  river  in  the  lapse  of  ages,  till  it  is  com- 
pletely "  islanded,"  and  hangs  in  air  above  the  waters 
that  still  ras^e  around  it.     One  recoils  with  horror  as  he 


148  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

stands  on  the  very  edge  of  the  beethng  crags,  and  looks 
over  and  down  into  the  abyss.  The  same  effect  I  have 
seen  produced  by  the  same  cause  in  but  two  other  cities  : 
Toledo,  in  Spain,  which  is  thus  encircled  by  the  Tagus ; 
and  Jerusalem,  which  is  severed  from  the  high  plateau, 
of  which  it  was  once  a  part,  by  the  brook  Kedron,  that, 
flowing  for  thousands,  perhaps  millions,  of  years,  has  cut 
a  channel  in  the  rocks,  so  that  the  Holy  City  is  girdled 
by  the  two  valleys  of  Hinnom  and  Jelioshaphat.  It  was 
this  standing  apart  by  itself  which  made  Mount  Zion 
"  beautiful  for  situation,  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth."  But 
the  grandeur  had  its  limitation,  for  on  neither  side  was  the 
valley  so  deep  but  that  one  could  go  down  into  it,  and 
follow  it  throughout  its  whole  extent,  so  that  he  could 
literally  "  walk  about  Zion  and  go  round  about  her." 

One  passage,  indeed,  there  is,  in  the  course  of  the 
brook  Kedron,  which  is  not  so  tame,  where  it  changes 
from  the  quiet  valley  to  the  terrific  gorge.  But  that 
is  far  away  from  Jerusalem,  where  the  brook  at  times 
swells  into  a  torrent,  and  has  ploughed  its  way  deeper 
and  deeper  into  its  rocky  bed,  till,  at  the  very  end  of  the 
plateau,  from  which  one  looks  off  upon  the  Dead  Sea 
and  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  the  cliffs  are  literally  cleft 
in  twain  to  open  a  passage  to  the  plain  below.  Here  it 
is  that  the  Convent  of  Mar  Saba  hangs  on  the  very  edge 
of  the  precipice,  in  a  way  that  makes  one  who  looks 
down  from  it  shudder  lest  cliff  and  convent  should  topple 
over  together,  into  the  yawning  chasm. 

All  this  mingled  sublimity  and  terror  are  doubled  at 
Constantine,  as  the  features  of  the  scene  are  repeated  on 
a  far  grander  scale,  as  the  cliffs  are  higher  and  the  gorges 
deeper.  The  first  approach  gives  one  a  start  of  appre- 
hension.    The  bridge   by   which  you   enter   the   town 


FROM  BISKRA   TO   CONSTANTHSTE  149 

spans  the  gorge,  at  such  a  height  that  you  can  hardly 
look  over  the  parapet  without  having  your  head  swim,  a 
sensation  that  returns  whenever  you  approach  the  walls 
and  try  to  fix  your  eye  on  some  object  far  down  in  the 
valley. 

To  get  the  full  impression  of  a  place  that  is  unique 
on  either  side  of  the  Mediterranean,  one  should  take  a 
survey  from  without  as  well  as  from  within.  That  we 
might  not  lose  anything,  we  were  up  betimes  in  the 
morning,  with  a  carriage  at  the  door,  to  make  the  circuit 
of  the  city.  Recrossing  the  bridge,  we  drove  round  to 
the  other  side  of  the  gorge,  and  for  a  mile  or  more  along 
the  cliff,  where  the  French  have  cut  a  road  in  the  living 
rock.  I  doubt  if  there  is  another  such  drive  in  the  world. 
One  must  have  a  steady  head  not  to  be  made  a  little  dizzy 
as  he  is  swung  along  at  full  speed.  It  may  be  a  weak- 
ness of  the  nerves,  but  I  confess  that  I  do  not  like  the 
edge  of  precipices  (in  any  sense),  and  keep  as  clear  of 
them  as  possible;  so  that,  when  we  were  whirled  round 
the  turns  in  the  road,  I  had  a  feeling  as  if  we  were  being 
hurled  into  the  air,  and  instinctively  leaned  to  the  other 
side  of  the  carriage,  and  even  turned  my  eyes  away  from 
a  depth  into  which  I  hardly  dared  to  look.  But  this 
apprehension  was  soon  quieted  as  we  passed  over  the 
highest  point  of  the  road,  and  sank  rapidly  to  a  lower 
level,  till  we  came  to  where  the  slope  of  the  mountain 
permitted  us  to  walk,  and  we  clambered  down  the  steep, 
sending  the  carriage  back  to  the  city,  to  go  round  it  and 
meet  us  as  we  emerged  on  the  other  side. 

And  now  we  descend  to  the  bed  of  the  river ;  not  to 
the  bottom  of  the  gorge,  which  is  still  far,  far  down,  but 
to  a  rocky  ledge,  along  which  the  river  flows  to  the  cas- 
cade, where  it  takes  its  last  leap.    This  is  a  midway  posi- 


150  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

tion  and  a  good  point  for  observation.  Here  we  may 
stop  and  look  up.  It  is  not  easy  to  measure  either  height 
or  depth  by  the  e3'e,  but  accurate  measurement  tells  us 
that  the  cliff  behind  us  towers  full  five  hundred  feet  into 
the  air. 

Advancing  up  the  stream,  we  stand  under  an  arch  of 
rock  that  spans  the  gorge,  reaching  from  cliff  to  cliff, 
like  the  Natural  Bridge  of  Virginia.  Of  these  arches 
there  are  no  less  than  four,  above  which  the  city  is  pin- 
nacled in  air,  throned  upon  a  height,  and  looking  down 
into  a  depth,  that  make  its  situation  the  most  pictur- 
esque in  the  world. 

But  this  is  not  all ;  these  cliffs  make  it  also  strong  for 
defence,  and  suggest  the  important  part  that  it  might 
play  in  war.  It  is  the  greatest  natural  fortress  in  the 
world.  Where  is  there  another  fortress,  or  another 
city,  that  has  walls  five  hundred  feet  high,  or  a  moat 
five  hundred  feet  deep  ?  Comparing  it  with  other  places 
strong  by  nature,  and  that  have  been  made  stronger  by 
the  hands  of  men,  we  should  say  that  it  was  Gibraltar 
and  Quebec  and  Ehrenbreitstein  all  in  one. 

This  natural  strength  of  Constant!  ne  has  been  fully 
appreciated  for  more  than  two  thousand  years.  Here  in 
the  days  of  Carthage  ruled  the  brother-in-law  of  Hanni- 
bal. A  hundred  years  before  Christ,  Cirta,  as  its  name 
then  was,  was  the  stronghold  of  Jugurtha,  but  was  taken 
by  Marius,  who  made  it  his  citadel.  How  all  this  history 
comes  back  to  me  after  fifty  years !  AVhen  I  was  a  boy 
in  "Williams  College,  one  of  the  books  that  formed  part  of 
our  course  in  Latin  was  Sallust's  "  History  of  the  Jugur- 
thine  War."  Little  thought  I  then  that  I  should  ever  be 
on  the  ground  on  which  it  was  fought.  After  the  city 
was  taken  by  the  Romans,  Jugurtha  tried  to  recapture  it. 


FROM   BISKRA  TO   CONSTANTINE  161 

From  yonder  hills,  he  looked  back  at  the  prize  he  had 
lost,  and  raged  around  it  like  a  Numidian  lion.  Possibly 
he  miirbt  have  reo-ained  it  if  he  had  not  been  the  victim 
of  treachery ;  but,  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  his  ene- 
mies, he  "was  taken  to  Rome,  and,  according  to  tradi- 
tion, starved  to  death  in  the  Mamertine  prison,  under 
the  Capitol,  which  all  travellers  are  taken  to  see  as 
the  one  in  which  Peter  and  Paul  Avere  confined  before 
their  execution  by  Nero.  When  Cirta  became  the  capi- 
tal of  a  Roman  province,  Sallust  was  its  governor;  and 
they  still  point  out  the  place  on  the  hillside  wdiere  his 
house  stood,  and  another  spot  outside  of  the  city  where 
were  his  gardens,  a  tradition  that  is  confirmed  by  the 
fact  that  there  is  still  an  inscription  that  bears  his  name. 

But  no  strength  of  position  has  saved  Constantino  from 
the  vicissitudes  of  war,  for  it  has  been  besieged  and  taken 
no  less  than  twenty-four  times.  Only  a  little  more  than 
fifty  years  ago  (in  1837)  it  was  stormed  for  the  last  time, 
by  the  French.  The  Arabs  fought  desperately,  and 
when  all  was  lost,  three  hundred  of  them,  rather  than 
surrender,  attempted  to  let  themselves  down  by  ropes 
over  the  precipice  five  hundred  feet  high.  The  greater 
part  of  these  were  dashed  in  pieces  on  the  rocks  below. 

It  is  hard  to  realize  all  these  tragedies  that  have  made 
this  a  place  of  blood,  as  we  walk  about  it  now,  when  it 
is  in  perfect  quiet,  and  a  traveller  from  England  or 
America  feels  that  he  is  under  the  protection  of  law  as 
much  as  if  he  were  in  France  itself. 

How  long  this  will  continue  remains  to  be  seen.  Cer- 
tainly the  French  are  strong  enough,  and  always  will  be 
(except  in  the  event  of  a  European  war,  like  that  of  1870, 
which  calls  home  the  troops,  and  leaves  the  country  un- 
defended), to  put  down  insurrection  and  maintain  their 


152  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

authority.  But  wise  statesmen  desire  something  more — 
to  win  the  confidence  of  the  native  population,  so  that 
they  shall  be  not  only  submissive  to  power,  but  loyal  in 
heart.  But  it  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  win  the  attach- 
ment of  a  subjugated  people,  especially  if  they  be  of 
another  race  and  another  religion.  The  late  Prefect  of 
Constantine  did  but  repeat  what  I  had  heard  from  the 
Governor-General  of  Algeria.  Perhaps  he  does  not  see 
Americans  so  often,  and  that  may  account,  in  part,  for 
the  warmth  of  his  greeting.  He  seemed  pleased  with 
my  admiration  for  the  wonderful  scenery,  and  took  me 
to  a  point  of  view  from  his  own  windows,  which  com- 
manded a  prospect  that  was  almost  worth  going  to 
Africa  to  see.  "  What  an  empire  you  have  here ! "  I  said. 
"  Yes,"  he  answered,  "  an  empire  in  extent,  but  not  in 
population.  Beyond  those  hills  you  have  but  to  travel 
a  few  leagues  southward  to  come  to  a  country  where 
there  is  not  a  town  nor  a  village,  the  only  inhabitants  being 
a  few  Bedaween  roving  from  one  oasis  to  another,  to  get 
a  little  herbage  for  their  camels,  till  you  come  to  the 
boundless  Sahara." 

And  as  to  the  government  of  such  an  empire,  he  spoke 
not  like  one  who  is  always  in  terror  and  in  fear  of  dan- 
ger, but  like  a  brave  soldier,  who  looks  danger  sternly 
in  the  face.  "  All  is  quiet  now,"  he  said,  "  but  an  insur- 
rection may  break  out  at  any  time.  "We  cannot  guard 
against  it,  nor  even  anticipate  its  coming,  any  more  than 
that  of  an  earthquake,  of  which  there  were  twenty-five, 
large  and  small,  last  year,  between  Constantine  and 
Algiers.  One  thing  we  cannot  do:  we  cannot  touch 
the  religion  of  the  people.  If  we  did,  there  would  be  an 
insurrection  to-morrow ! " 

This  is  not  a  state  of  things  that  is  conducive  to  quiet 


FROM  BISKRA  TO  CONSTANTINE  153 

slumbers ;  and  yet  these  are  the  cares  of  empire,  that 
weigh  on  those  who  assume  such  grave  responsibility. 
In  the  issue  Americans  have  no  interest,  except  the 
interest  of  universal  humanity.  But  that  is  enough  to 
make  them  desire  that  the  experiment  which  the  French 
are  now  making  to  govern  Northern  Africa  may  be 
completely  successful,  and  insure  to  a  country  long 
cursed  by  war  an  equally  long,  and  far  more  beneficent, 
reign  of  peace. 


CHAPTEK  XIV 

LIGHTS    AND    SHADOWS    OF   AFEICAN   LIFE 

It  seems  a  mockery  to  call  Africa  the  land  of  the  sun, 
when  it  is  so  full  of  misery.  Yet  there  is  in  this  no  con- 
tradiction. Every  picture  has  its  two  sides,  the  bright 
side  and  the  dark  side,  the  sunshine  and  the  shadow,  and 
it  is  well  to  look  at  both. 

The  negro  is  born  a  happy  creature,  and  nature  is 
indulgent  to  him.  He  has  none  of  the  burdens  of 
civilization.  His  wants  are  few  and  simple ;  and  so 
he  gets  more  out  of  life,  or  of  the  little  that  life  gives 
him,  than  the  white  man  who  looks  down  upon  him, 
but  who  may  well  envy  the  poor  creature  who  is  always 
ready  to  sing  and  dance,  and  will  burst  into  laughter  on 
the  slightest  provocation.  Observing  these  brighter 
points  in  a  very  humble  and  lowly  existence  may  enable 
us  to  put  the  good  alongside  the  evil,  and  strike  a  balance 
between  them.  Human  nature  is  the  same  in  every 
country  and  in  every  clime ;  men  are  men,  and  women 
are  women,  and  children  are  children,  all  over  the  world. 

To  begin  with  the  children.  Childhood  is  the  most 
helpless  state  of  being,  but  with  an  African  child  it 
seems  to  be  not  only  helpless,  but  hopeless.  Doomed 
from  birth  to  the  lowest  condition,  to  be  kicked  and 
cuffed  at  the  pleasure  of  a  brutal  master,  were  it  not 
better  for  him  that  he  had  never  been  born  ?  And  yet, 
though  these  little  Africans  may  be  uncared  for,  nothing 
can  repress  the  joyousness  of  childhood.     The  children 


LIGHTS   AND   SHADOWS  OF   AFRICAN  LIFE  155 

of  Africa  have  their  games  and  sports  as  well  as  the 
children  of  America.  If  our  sympathizing  countrymen 
and  countrywomen  could  see  these 

"  Young  barbarians  all  at  play," 

they  would  see  that  fun  and  frolic  and  childish  glee  are 
not  confined  to  any  country  or  race,  but  that  children 
are  children  under  the  African  palms  as  truly  as  on  the 
green  turf  of  England  or  America. 

Sometimes  children  have  to  work  as  well  as  pla}'^.  But 
this  is  no  harder  in  Algiers  than  in  New  York,  where  we 
have  hundreds  of  street  Arabs,  who  compose  the  noble 
army  of  newsboys  and  bootblacks,  and  pi}'  their  trades 
with  an  energy  that  commands  our  admiration.  They 
may  be  ragged  and  dirty,  but  they  are  not  unhappy. 

I  shall  always  have  a  pleasant  memory  of  ray  little 
friends  the  bootblacks  of  Algiers.  What  merry  faces 
they  had  !  "What  snapping  black  eyes  !  They  are  not 
to  be  pitied.  Indeed,  I  sometimes  thought  they  were 
rather  to  be  envied  by  the  children  of  the  rich,  who  were 
riding  about  in  carriages;  kept,  as  it  were,  under  glass, 
like  flowers  in  hot-houses,  and  never  suffered  to  stir  abroad 
unless  attended  by  servants,  to  keep  them  from  contact 
with  common  earth  and  common  children.  "What  puny, 
sickly  creatures  they  became !  Well  might  they  sigh  for 
the  freedom  of  the  gamins  of  the  street,  who,  though 
they  had  little  to  eat,  and  that  of  the  coarsest  food,  made 
up  for  it  by  the  vigor  of  their  appetites ;  and  though  they 
had  but  rags  to  cover  them,  suffered  little,  since  the 
African  sun  warmed  their  blood,  and  sent  it  tingling 
through  their  veins. 

Next  to  the  children  as  objects  of  pity  are  the  women, 
who  are  the  drudges  in  all  uncivilized  countries,  the  ones 


156  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

to  bear  all  burdens  and  take  all  blows.  Are  they  not, 
indeed,  objects  of  compassion  ?  Yes  and  no !  They  are, 
indeed,  the  humblest  of  all  God's  creatures ;  the  poorest, 
the  weakest,  the  least  able  to  bear  burdens,  and  yet  who 
have  the  most  laid  upon  them.  Such  an  one  is  now 
before  me.  I  see  her  yonder  on  the  hillside,  sitting  under 
an  old  olive  tree  to  shield  her  from  the  noontide  heat. 
AVas  there  ever  a  more  miserable  object?  Her  feet  are 
naked ;  her  arms  are  bare.  One  coarse  garment  is  all  she 
has  to  cover  her  and  to  hide  her  wretchedness.  Wretched- 
ness? No:  for  there  is  something  else  in  the  picture. 
"What  is  it  that  she  holds  so  closely?  It  is  a  babe  in  its 
mother's  arms.  Swaddled  in  rags,  it  may  be,  or  swad- 
dled not  at  all ;  naked  as  it  was  born  into  the  world ;  yet 
it  lives,  it  breathes.  It  is  indeed  but  a  tiny  creature,  an 
atom  of  humanity  that  lies  there,  like  a  birdling  in  its 
nest.  But  if  it  draws  life  from  another,  it  gives  life  in 
return,  in  the  thrill  of  rapture  that  it  sends  back  into  that 
dark  African  bosom.  It  is  the  joy  of  motherhood,  that 
fills  her  being  with  a  happiness  that  angels  never  knew. 
Has  not  that  mother  something  to  make  life  worth  living:, 
and  to  cause  her  to  lift  her  eyes  to  heaven  in  unutterable 
gratitude? 

But  in  Africa  there  is  no  distinction  of  sex  in  this :  that 
all  alike,  men  and  women,  are  miserably  poor.  Go 
through  an  African  village,  enter  their  huts,  that  are  as 
bare  of  comfort  as  Indian  wigwams.  How  can  the 
inmates  exist?  That  is  the  mystery.  A  few  rods  of 
ground,  which  they  can  sow  with  millet  or  barley,  and 
one  black  goat,  that  is  cropping  the  grass  before  the 
door,  and  gives  a  few  pints  of  milk  a  day,  are  all  their 
means  of  subsistence. 

It  is,  indeed,  pinching  poverty  when  a  man  has  to 


LIGHTS  AND   SHADOWS   OF  AFRICAN   LIFE  157 

tighten  the  girdle  round  his  loins  to  lessen  the  feeling 
of  emptiness  within.  But  apart  from  the  physical  suffer- 
ing, the  poor  are  not  worse  off  in  Africa  than  in  civilized 
countries.  The  pangs  of  hunger  are  as  sharp  and  keen 
in  London  or  I^ew  York  as  in  Morocco.  But  poverty  is 
a  protection  against  thieves,  as  the  poor  have  little  that 
is  worth  stealing.  In  these  despotic  countries  it  serves  a 
still  further  purpose,  as  a  screen  from  the  oppression  of 
the  Government,  which  is  the  great  robber.  In  all 
countries  it  is  held  to  be  a  misfortune  to  be  poor.  But 
here,  unless  a  man  can  place  himself  under  the  protec- 
tion of  one  of  the  foreign  powers,  he  may  find  it  to  be 
an  equal,  or  even  a  greater,  misfortune  to  be  rich ;  for 
the  possession  of  wealth  attracts  the  attention  of  the 
government,  w^hich  always  strikes  at  the  towering  heads. 
Many  a  man  has  lost  his  life  because  he  was  discovered, 
or  suspected,  to  have  concealed  treasures.  To  this  danger, 
at  least,  the  poor  are  not  exposed ;  so  that  the  old  Bible 
saying  that  "  the  destruction  of  the  poor  is  their  poverty," 
is  here  reversed,  since  their  poverty  is  their  protection. 
To  be  sure,  this  security  is  not  absolute.  The  Sultan  of 
Morocco  may  not  himself  stoop  to  rob  the  poor ;  but  as 
he  farms  out  the  country  to  governors,  who  pay  him  a 
fixed  revenue,  and  get  all  they  can  for  themselves,  they 
are  the  spoilers.  Armed  with  such  authority,  the  gov- 
ernor of  a  tribe  is  not  above  taking  the  last  bag  of  meal 
out  of  a  poor  man's  hut,  or  his  one  ewe  lamb  or  black 
goat  from  before  his  door ;  so  that  even  poverty  is  not  a 
perfect  protection,  though  it  is  in  part,  and  to  that  extent 

"  He  that  is  low  need  fear  no  fall." 

Taking  all  these  things  together,  the  lot  of  the  poor  in 
Africa,  hard  as  it  is,  is  not  utterly  hopeless :  there  is  a 


158  THE  BARBABY   COAST 

light  in  the  window  of  the  poorest  hut  in  the  forest,  the 
token  of  peace  and  contentment  within.  And  if,  under 
that  lowly  roof,  there  be  mutual  love  and  tenderness,  all 
the  tyrants  on  earth  cannot  prevent  an  unseen  angel 
descending  like  a  dove,  and  hovering  over  that  humble 
abode. 

But  there  is  an  if  in  the  case,  that  compels  us  to  qualify 
our  estimate  of  the  happiness  within,  for  there  is  another 
element  that  may  disturb  that  innocent  repose.  The 
happiness  of  a  people  does  not  depend  on  laws  and  gov- 
ernments so  much  as  on  their  domestic  relations.  The 
life  of  our  life — the  very  core  and  centre  of  our  being — 
is  in  the  home,  where  love  is  made  perfect,  binding  souls 
together  in  the  tenderest  of  all  human  relations. 

But  this  perfect  bliss  cannot  be  enjoyed  where  hus- 
band and  wife  come  together,  only  to  continue  thus  at 
their  own  caprice.  In  Moslem  countries  the  marriage 
relation  is  not  of  God's  ordinance,  so  as  to  make  it 
sacred  and  inviolable,  and  of  course  has  no  assurance  of 
perpetuit3^  What  true  love  can  there  be  where  the 
choice  of  a  bride  is  a  matter  of  purchase,  and  has  to 
be  settled,  not  with  her,  but  with  "  the  old  man,"  who 
looks  upon  his  daughter  as  one  of  his  assets,  to  be  parted 
with  only  at  a  good  bargain  !  This  may  stimulate  the 
young  and  the  strong  to  work  for  a  bride,  as  Jacob 
served  seven  years  for  Rachel.  But  when  it  comes  to  a 
counting  of  so  many  pieces  of  silver,  it  is  degraded  to 
the  level  of  ordinary  business.  There  may  be  a  fancy 
to  be  gratified  in  getting  a  rustic  beauty,  but  with  this 
there  is  very  apt  to  be  in  the  suitor  the  sordid  desire  to 
get  the  full  worth  of  his  money  !  A  bride  thus  won  may 
be  easily  thrown  aside.  The  tie  so  lightly  formed  is  as 
lightly  broken. 


LIGHTS  AND  SHADOWS  OF   AFRICAN   LIFE  159 

In  all  Moslem  countries  the  Koran  is  not  only  the 
supreme  law,  but  the  only  law,  civil  and  ecclesiastical. 
The  court  is  next  to  the  mosque,  or  a  part  of  the  same 
building.  In  Algiers  you  enter  one  door  and  see  the 
true  believers  turning  their  faces  towards  Mecca,  bowing 
and  prostrating  themselves;  and  when  you  come  out, 
you  have  but  to  descend  a  few  steps  to  enter  a  court- 
room, where  the  Cadi,  a  venerable  Arab,  with  a  long 
beard  and  snowy  turban,  sits  to  administer  justice. 
Among  his  other  duties  is  that  of  sitting  in  cases  of 
divorce,  which,  it  can  be  truly  said,  he  turns  off  with 
neatness  and  despatch.  You  enter,  and  find  the  men  sit- 
ting on  one  side  and  the  women  on  the  other,  waiting 
their  turns  till  he  shall  hear  their  cases.  First  the  man 
tells  his  story,  and  then  the  vroman  tells  hers.  But  it  is 
not  probable  that  the  testimony  of  either  avails  much, 
for  it  is  not  often  that  a  divorce  thus  asked  for  is  re- 
fused. The  Cadi  has  all  power ;  he  can  make  twain  one, 
or  one  twain,  ^o  long  details  Aveary  the  court  and  dis- 
gust the  audience.  No  proof  of  unfaithfulness  is  required 
or  given.  It  is  simply  a  matter  of  choice  on  the  part  of 
the  husband,  who  has  but  to  say  to  his  wife  three  times, 
"  I  divorce  you,"  and  he  is  free.  If  he  wished,  and  the 
person  were  ready,  I  doubt  not  the  Cadi  would  marry 
him  to  a  second  wife  within  five  minutes !  The  whole 
business  Avould  not  cost  much.  It  is  only  ten  francs  for 
a  divorce  ;  and  then,  as  if  to  tempt  him  to  a  new  venture, 
he  can  be  married  at  half  price,  so  that  he  need  only  add 
five  francs  and  he  can  depart  in  pride,  if  not  in  peace,  to 
conduct  his  new  wife  to  her  home. 

But  w^hat  becomes  of  her  who  loved  him  and  trusted 
him,  and  who  is  now  tossed  aside  ?  And  what  of  the 
children  who  are  made  worse  than  orphans  ?     These  are 


160  THE  BABBARY   COAST 

questions  which  the  destroyer  of  his  home  does  not  stop 
to  answer. 

A  friend,  who  attended  the  court  one  day,  told  me 
that,  generally,  the  result  seemed  to  be  accepted  by  both 
parties  as  a  matter  of  course,  with  which  they  were  too 
familiar  to  be  much  overcome.  It  may  even  have  been 
arranged  beforehand  by  mutual  understanding.  Some, 
no  doubt,  thought  it  a  happy  relief  to  get  rid  of  a  cruel 
husband  or  an  ill-tempered  wife.  But  to  others,  espe- 
cially where  there  were  children,  the  separation  had  a 
terrible  meaning.  "While  many  looked  round  the  court- 
room, seemingly  indifferent,  one  poor  woman  buried 
her  face  in  her  hands  and  wept  bitterly.  This  breaking 
up  of  homes  must  be,  in  many  cases,  a  breaking  of 
hearts ;  and  a  broken  heart  is  as  heavy  a  burden  to  carry 
on  the  mountains  of  Africa  as  in  any  unhappy  home  of 
England  or  America. 

I  have  been  "  stirred  up  "  about  this  matter  by  a  case 
that  has  come  under  my  eye  in  Constantine.  I  was  here 
six  years  ago,  and  had  not  forgotten  the  fortress-crowned 
rock  that  was  like  another  Gibraltar,  and  wished  to  see 
it  again.  So  the  morning  after  our  arrival  we  were  up 
early,  and  roused  the  landlord,  and  bade  him  summon  at 
once  a  carriage  and  a  guide,  "  the  best  he  could  find,"  at 
which  he  called  to  his  man  of  all  work,  "  Send  for  Ali ! " 
"  Ali  ?  Ali  ?  "  The  name  sounded  familiar.  "  Is  he  not 
the  same  one  who  took  me  about  when  I  was  here  be- 
fore, and  who  told  me  how  he  had  divorced  his  wife?  " 
"  Yes,  the  very  same."  He  soon  turned  up,  and  recog- 
nized me  at  once.  He  is  a  Kabyle,  and,  like  most  of  the 
men  from  the  mountains,  a  stout,  strapping  fellow.  On 
the  former  occasion,  when  he  had  shown  me  the  town, 
and  we  had  become  a  little  acquainted,  I  thought  it  a 


LIGHTS  AND  SHADOWS   OF  AFRICAN   LIFE  161 

mark  of  friendship  to  inquire  into  bis  personal  affairs, 
and  asked  him  if  he  was  married.  "  Yes :  he  had  a  wife, 
and  had  had  one  before  her,"  upon  which  I  took  for 
granted  that  he  bad  suffered  a  domestic  bereavement, 
and  thought  he  might  still  be  mourning  his  loss,  and 
that  a  word  of  sympathy  would  be  as  balm  to  his 
wounded  heart.  But  I  soon  found  that  he  was  in  no 
need  of  consolation,  for  that  the  "dear  departed  "was 
still  living,  and  as  buxom  as  ever ;  but  that  he  had,  for 
some  reason  not  at  all  affecting  her  character,  put  her 
away,  or,  to  use  the  softer  phrase,  sent  her  back  to  her 
father.  Without  the  slightest  embarrassment  he  told 
me  all  about  it,  and  how  much  he  paid  the  old  man  for 
her,  seeming  rather  proud  of  the  fact  that  she  cost  him 
four  hundred  francs  (eighty  dollars),  which  he  evidently 
thought  a  pretty  round  sum ;  and  that  he  had  done  the 
handsome  thing,  and  shown  his  appreciation  of  her,  by 
giving  it.  I  do  not  doubt  that  she  was  worth  the 
money,  for  if  she,  too,  was  a  Kabyle,  she  was  probably 
a  maiden  light  of  form  and  swift  of  foot,  who  could 
climb  the  heights  and  descend  into  the  depths,  bounding 
from  rock  to  rock,  "  like  a  roe  upon  the  mountains."  Ten 
years  they  lived  together ;  a  daughter  was  born  to  them, 
and  had  they  remained  in  their  Alpine  home,  they  might 
so  have  continued  to  the  end.  But  when  he  came  to 
the  city,  he  came  in  the  way  of  temptation.  Perchance 
he  was  caught  by  some  pretty  face,  and  began  to  be- 
think himself  of  using  his  freedom  to  be  off  with  the  old 
love  and  on  with  the  new ;  and  so  he  sent  away  his  wife 
without  a  touch  of  pity  or  remorse.  The  agony  it  might 
cause  to  her,  the  parting  not  only  from  him,  but  from 
their  daughter  (whom  he  kept),  was  nothing  to  him.  It 
was  all  so  pitiful  to  think  of  the  discarded  wife,  robbed 
11 


162  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

at  once  of  her  husband  and  her  child,  taking  her  lonely 
way  back  to  the  mountains  ! 

Finding  it  impossible  to  touch  his  conscience,  I  pricked 
him  in  another  point,  in  which  a  Kabyle  is  never  insen- 
sible. "  Is  it  not  rather  an  expensive  business  for  you 
[he  might  have  been  earning  five  francs  a  day]  to  pay 
four  hundred  francs  for  the  first  wife,  and  then  send  her 
away,  and  pay  seven  hundred  francs  [for  he  told  me 
the  exact  price]  for  the  second  ? "  I  took  for  granted 
that  the  first  "  investment  "  was  a  dead  loss.  But  now  I 
was  to  learn  for  the  first  time  of  the  cunning  device  by 
which  the  canny  Kabyle,  who  must  make  a  sharp  bar- 
gain, even  in  love,  provides  against  such  a  contingency ; 
for  he  informed  me,  with  an  air  of  triumph,  that  when 
he  returned  the  fii'st  wife  to  her  father,  the  old  man  was 
obliged  b}^  custom,  if  not  by  law,  to  pay  back  the  money 
which  he  had  paid  for  her,  which,  of  course,  was  so  much 
towards  the  purchase  of  one  whose  father  rated  his 
daughter  at  a  higher  price.  This  is  what,  I  suppose, 
railroad  men  would  call  a  rebate  upon  returned  goods. 
So  thoroughly  is  the  mercantile  spirit  introduced  into 
the  most  sacred  of  all  human  relations. 

Such  was  the  story  of  Ali,  as  he  told  it  to  me  six  years 
ago,  and  which  came  back  to  me,  now  that  I  was  again 
in  Africa,  in  the  same  city  of  Constantine,  and  once  more 
looked  him  in  the  face.  After  all  these  years  it  seemed 
possible  that  he  might  have  some  relentings,  and  now 
and  then  send  pitying,  if  not  loving,  thoughts  towards 
the  wife  of  his  youth  and  the  mother  of  his  child.  And 
so  I  inquired  very  gently  about  their  present  relations  : 
"  Of  course  she  is  not  the  same  to  you  now,  but  surely, 
Ali,  you  cannot  forget  your  former  wife.  Do  you  not 
sometimes  long  to  meet,  even  if  it  were  only  as  friends? 


LIGHTS   AND  SHADOWS   OF   AFRICAN  LIFE  163 

To  see  her  face  ?  to  hear  her  voice  ? "  The  suggestion 
seemed  to  trouble  him  for  a  moment,  but  he  shook  it  off. 
"iVbw/  non!"  he  said,  shrugging  his  shoulders;  '■''quand 
c^estJm%G'estfini!"  Yes,  yes:  that  is  the  end,  and  the 
old  love  which  they  knew  when  they  sat  together  in  the 
twilight,  at  the  door  of  their  little  hut,  she  with  the  baby 
on  her  knee,  had  slipped  from  underneath  their  feet  like 
a  mossy  stone,  and  rolled  down  the  mountain  side,  to  be 
seen  no  more ! 

I  looked  at  Ali,  half  in  anger  and  half  in  pity,  for  I 
would  not  do  him  injustice ;  and  I  do  misgive  me  lest  I 
have  given  the  impression  that  he  was  a  brute,  when  he 
was  not.  Dull  as  he  was  in  moral  sense,  and  wanting  in 
natural  affection,  he  was  not  worse  than  those  around 
him.  How  could  he,  poor  ignorant  fellow,  be  expected 
to  set  up  a  higher  standard  than  that  of  his  people,  a 
standard  fixed  by  law  and  sanctioned  by  religion  ? 

But  the  story  was  a  very  sad  one,  and  being  that  of  a 
Kabyle,  it  gave  me  a  new  impression  of  that  mountain 
paradise,  of  which  I  had  dreamed  so  many  dreams. 
When  I  was  riding  through  Kabylia,  and  looking  up  to 
the  heights  on  which  its  villages  are  perched,  I  tried  to 
picture  them  as  the  happy  retreats  of  quietness  and 
peace.  But  even  Mr.  Grellet,  in  whose  vineyard  near 
Algiers  I  first  saw  the  Kabyles,  told  me  that  they  had  a 
mixture  of  qualities  in  their  composition ;  that  while 
they  were  hard  workers,  they  were  terrible  fighters ;  that 
their  little  villages,  packed  so  closely  together,  were  often 
the  scene  of  deadly  feuds.  And  now  I  saw  one  element 
of  discord.  When  a  man  can  buy  a  young  wife,  and  a 
few  years  after,  or  even  months,  can  turn  her  off  and  buy 
another  in  the  next  house,  the  two  families  are  not  likely 
to  be  the  best  of  neighbors ;  there  must  spring  up  jeal- 


164  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

ousies  and  hatreds,  that,  with  such  a  combative  race, 
often  lead  to  the  shedding  of  blood, 

Nor  is  this  source  of  trouble  insignificant  because  it  is 
a  domestic  affair.  The  noise  of  strife  cannot  always  be 
shut  up  within  the  walls  of  a  house.  What  begins  at 
home  may  spread  abroad.  Family  quarrels  have  often 
led  to  bloody  wars.  This  element  of  social  disturbance 
is  to  be  taken  note  of,  as  we  watch  the  barometer  to  see 
what  storms  are  coming.  A  cloud  no  bigger  than  a 
man's  hand  may  rise  and  spread  till  it  darkens  the  whole 
heaven.  And  so,  as  I  have  undertaken  to  draw  with  a 
free  hand,  and  on  a  broad  canvas,  the  lights  and  shad- 
ows of  African  life,  I  put  this  breaking  up  of  families 
at  the  head  of  all  that  is  dark  and  dreary.  Africa  has 
many  woes,  but  this  is  the  greatest  of  them  all.  It  is 
worse  than  slavery,  for  slaves  can  love  each  other  and  be 
happy.  It  is  the  curse  of  Islam  which  casts  its  shadow 
over  every  African  home;  and  of  all  the  clouds  that 
darken  the  land,  this  is  the  blackest  that  hangs  over  this 
soft  blue  African  sky. 


CHAPTER  XV 

HOW   THE   MOSLEMS    FAST   AND   PEAT 

"The  curse  of  Islam  which  casts  its  shadow  over 
every  African  home ! "  So  wrote  I  at  the  end  of  a  chap- 
ter which  seemed  to  justify  it  all,  and  it  did.  But  I 
never  condemn  a  man  without  afterwards  trying  to 
clear  him  from  my  own  condemnation.  I  could  not 
be  a  judge,  for  I  should  want  to  give  a  decision  in  favor 
of  both  parties.  That  is  ray  weakness:  I  never  say  a 
hard  word  of  any  poor  sinner,  that  I  am  not  the  next 
moment  smitten  with  remorse  lest  I  have  borne  down 
upon  him  too  harshly,  and  look  about  to  find  some 
redeeming  feature  to  relieve  a  judgment  that  was  too 
severe. 

As  with  an  individual,  so  with  a  creed  or  a  religion. 
Men's  philosophies  are  like  themselves,  not  unmingled 
good  or  evil,  but  a  mixture  of  both ;  of  dark  and  light,  of 
weakness  and  strength.  Thus  in  regard  to  the  faith 
which  rules  so  large  a  part  of  the  Eastern  world.  While 
I  take  back  nothing  of  ni}^  condemnation  of  that  feature 
of  it  which  permits  husbands  to  cast  oflF  their  wives  for 
the  slightest  offence,  or  no  offence  at  all,  yet  that  is  not 
the  whole  of  the  Moslem  relia^ion.  It  has  other  features 
borrowed  from  Judaism  and  Christianity.  Its  ancient 
history  is  that  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  Prophet 
revered  the  patriarchs,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and 
the  lawgiver  Moses,  as  his  predecessors ;  while  in  the 
teaching  of  the  practical  virtues,  Islam  is  largely  infused 


166  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

with  elements  derived  from  a  still  Greater  Teacher. 
Certainly  we  can  find  no  fault  with  the  Koran  so  far  as 
it  follows  the  Bible ;  nor  with  Mohammed  so  far  as  he 
follows  Christ. 

Much  has  been  said  of  the  spread  of  Mohammedanism 
among  the  tribes  of  Northern  Africa  as  a  thing  to  be 
deplored.  If  it  were  to  take  the  place  of  the  Christian 
religion,  Yes ;  but  as  against  the  worst  forms  of  pagan- 
ism, No.  Let  it  have  full  swing  to  drive  out  the  old 
idolatries,  the  Avorship  of  devils,  fetichism  and  witchcraft, 
and  human  sacrifices.  If  it  were  only  to  abolish  the 
"  Grand  Custom,"  in  which  hundreds  of  human  beings 
are  slaughtered  every  year,  it  would  be  a  blessing  to 
humanity. 

So  marked  is  the  resemblance  in  many  features  to 
Christianity,  that  some  modern  writers  claim  that  Islam 
ought  to  be  recognized  as,  if  not  a  twin  sister,  at  least  a 
half  sister ;  as  having  the  same  ancestry,  and  entitled  to 
be  looked  upon  as  kindred  with  it.  A  year  or  two  since, 
a  Canon  of  the  Church  of  England,  who  certainly  bears 
a  distinguished  name — that  of  Isaac  Taylor — if  he  does 
not  inherit  all  the  wisdom  that  belonged  to  its  original 
possessor — read  a  paper  before  the  English  Church  Con- 
gress, in  which  he  boldly  demanded  that  Islam  should  no 
longer  be  regarded  as  the  enemy  of  our  religion,  but  as 
its  friend  and  ally.  He  said :  "  We  ought  to  begin  by 
recognizing  the  fact,  that  Islam  is  not  an  anti-Christian 
faith,  but  a  half-Christian  faith — an  imperfect  Christian- 
it}'".  Islam  is  a  replica  of  the  faith  of  Abraham  and 
Moses,  with  Christian  elements.  Though  the  teaching 
of  Mahomet  falls  grievously  short  of  the  teaching  of 
St.  Paul,  there  is  nothino:  in  it  antafjonistic  to  Christian- 
ity.     The  higher  Christian  virtues — humility,  purity  of 


HOW   THE   MOSLEMS   FAST  AND  PRAY  167 

heart,  forgiveness  of  injuries,  sacrifice  of  self — these 
are  not  the  virtues  of  Islam.  The  Christian  ideal  is 
unintelligible  to  savacjes;  but  the  lower  virtues  which 
Islam  inculcates,  the  lower  races  can  be  brought  to 
understand  —  temperance,  cleanliness,  chastity,  justice, 
fortitude,  courage,  benevolence,  hospitality,  veracity,  and 
resignation." 

Certainly  in  one  point  of  morality,  temperance,  absti- 
nence from  intoxicating  drinks,  the  Moslems  are  at  once 
our  examples  and  our  reproach.  It  is  the  shame  of 
Christendom,  that  not  only  are  the  gin  palaces  of  Lon- 
don crowded  with  drunken  men  and  women,  but  that 
even  in  dear  old  Presbyterian  Scotland,  in  Edinburgh 
and  Glasgow,  cities  proud  of  their  churches  and  their 
universities,  there  is  an  amount  of  beastly  drunkenness 
utterly  unknown  in  Cairo  and  Constantinople. 

Nor  is  it  only  in  the  matter  of  temperance  or  of  for- 
titude under  suffering,  and  other  heroic  virtues,  that  the 
Moslems  set  us  an  example,  but  in  the  performance  of 
their  religious  duties  of  fasting  and  prayer.  In  proof  of 
this  I  do  not  give  the  testimony  of  one  of  themselves — 
an  Arab  or  a  Turk — but  of  one  of  another  faith,  a  monk, 
who,  wearing  the  coarse  garment  which  is  the  robe  of 
his  order,  and  bound  by  vows  as  tightly  as  by  the  girdle 
about  his  loins,  knows  by  experience  what  it  is  to  be 
under  the  strictest  religious  discipline.  It  was  during 
my  stay  at  Biskra  that  I  drove  out  with  a  friend  to  the 
Convent  of  the  White  Fathers,  the  order  organized  by 
the  late  Cardinal  Lavigerie  with  the  special  purpose  of 
carrying  the  gospel  into  Africa.  We  had  no  introduc- 
tion, but  rang  the  bell  at  the  gate,  that  was  soon  opened 
by  a  man  of  tall  figure,  which  might  have  been  that  of 
a  soldier,  with  a  grave  but  kindly  face,  who  received  us 


168  THE   BARBAKY  COAST 

courteously,  and  conducted  us  about  the  grounds.  We 
soon  perceived  that  he  was  the  head  of  what  I  may  call, 
without  offence,  this  semi-religious  and  semi-military 
establishment.  As  the  order  is  designed  for  hard  work, 
it  is  composed  of  picked  men,  such  as  would  be  chosen 
for  a  military  service  of  great  danger.  Even  while  here 
in  their  convent,  they  are  like  soldiers  in  garrison,  ready 
to  be  ordered  at  any  moment  to  cross  the  desert  and 
plunge  into  the  heart  of  Africa.  Such  men  are  not 
likely  to  be  over-indulgent  to  the  loose  practices  of  those 
of  another  religion,  and  therefore  it  was  with  a  mixture 
of  surprise  at  his  candor,  and  admiration  of  the  spirit 
which  it  showed,  that  I  listened  to  what  he  had  to  say 
about  the  faith  which  it  was  the  very  purpose  of  his 
order  to  combat  and  overcome.  As  we  were  walking 
through  the  palm  grove  in  the  rear  of  the  convent,  he 
suddenly  turned  to  me  and  said : 

"  Do  you  know  that  this  is  the  first  day  of  the  month 
of  Ramadan  ?  "  (The  Mohammedan  Lent,  to  which  they 
give,  indeed,  but  thirty  days,  while  Christians  keep  forty 
in  commemoration  of  our  Lord's  fasting  in  the  wilder- 
ness.) But  he  immediately  corrected  himself  by  adding 
that,  although  it  was  the  day  according  to  the  calendar 
(for  the  date  of  the  beginning  of  Ramadan,  as  of  the 
beginning  of  Lent,  is  determined  by  the  changes  of  the 
moon),  yet  inasmuch  as  this  particular  day,  the  18th  of 
March,  happened  to  be  a  Saturda}'^,  which  was  the  Sab- 
bath of  the  Jews,  it  was  thought  better  that  the  two  days 
should  not  come  together ;  and  therefore  the  Moslems 
yielded  to  their  brethren  of  the  more  ancient  faith,  and 
postponed  their  "  opening  "  to  the  next  day.  But  the 
time  of  beginning  was  fixed,  according  to  the  reckoning  of 
the  Jews,  from  the  hour  of  sunset,  instead  of  midnight ; 


HOW  THE   MOSLEMS  FAST  AND  PRAY  169 

for  at  sunset  that  Saturday  evening  I  heard  the  firing  of 
guns  from  the  fort  in  rapid  succession,  announcing  to 
the  faithful  that  the  holy  Fast  of  Ramadan,  was  begun. 
And  from  that  time  till  I  left  Africa — in  Constantine, 
Bone,  and  Tunis — every  day  the  evening  gun  told  when 
the  hours  of  fasting  were  ended,  and  the  faithful  might 
once  more  partake  of  food. 

But  the  first  notice  I  received  was  from  the  White 
Father,  and  I  at  once  pricked  up  my  ears  to  learn  more 
about  this  peculiar  form  of  penance,  which,  while 
wholly  unknown  to  the  "Western  world,  is  observed 
over  a  large  part  of  two  continents,  Asia  and  Africa. 
The  missionaries  at  Constantinople  had  told  me  how, 
during  that  month,  they  were  awakened  every  morning 
by  the  thunders  from  the  ships  of  war  in  the  Bosphorus. 

"  Yes,  yes  :  I  know  !  Ramadan  is  the  great  Fast  of 
the  Moslems.  But  what  does  it  amount  to  ?  I  suppose 
they  go  down  on  their  knees  to  do  penance  for  a  month 
as  a  sort  of  compensation  for  the  sins  that  they  will 
commit  the  rest  of  the  year.  You  know,  good  Father, 
that  many  Catholics  are  not  very  strict  in  their  observ- 
ance of  Friday." 

A  Frenchman  is  never  thrown  off  his  balance,  so  as  to 
betray  his  light  opinion  of  another's  want  of  information, 
or  he  might  have  smiled  at  my  ignorance.  He  enlight- 
ened me  gently  as  to  the  importance  of  the  event  in 
the  Mohammedan  year,  for  with  all  true  believers  it 
has  a  special  sacredness.  The  keeping  of  Ramadan  is  a 
part  of  the  Moslem  law,  and  is  enforced  by  a  powerful 
public  opinion.  In  a  Christian  country  it  is  no  reproach 
not  to  keep  Lent.  Indeed,  some  intense  Protestants 
make  it  a  principle  not  to  keep  it,  as  if  it  were  conceding 
something  to  what  they  are  pleased  to  regard  as  supersti- 


l70  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

tion.  But  with  the  Arabs  and  the  Turks  it  is  not  only 
required  that  every  man  keep  Eamadan,  but  it  is  a  dis- 
grace not  to  keep  it,  for  which  one  would  become 
almost  an  outcast  among  his  people. 

And  as  to  the  manner  of  keeping  it,  it  is  with  a  strict- 
ness almost  unknown  in  the  Christian  world  in  the  ob- 
servance of  the  fasts  prescribed  by  the  Church.  During 
all  this  month  devout  believei'S  will  neither  eat  nor  drink 
from  the  rising  to  the  going  down  of  the  sun. 

Of  course,  all  may  not  adhere  rigidly  to  this  strict  rule 
of  abstinence.  Some,  no  doubt,  take  refreshment  in  the 
secret  of  their  houses ;  and  others  on  pretence  of  its  being 
required  by  their  health.  There  are  many  ways  to  evade 
what  one  does  not  wish  to  observe.  Who  can  tell  when 
a  man  takes  a  drink  of  water  ?  Is  every  man  under  watch 
by  his  neighbor?  The  higher  classes,  especially,  have 
opportunities  for  hidden  indulgence,  and  in  Constan- 
tinople I  was  given  to  understand  that  the  official  class 
observed  Eamadan  with  limitations.  The  Pashas  and 
Beys  and  Effendis  may  not  hold  themselves  subject  to 
the  strict  rules  that  govern  ordinary  men,  and  they  can 
easily  take  a  sip  when  no  cup-bearer  is  nigh.  Then  they 
have  a  way  of  cutting  short  the  hours  of  penance  by 
sleeping  in  the  day  time,  and  waking  and  feasting  at 
night.  If  their  stomachs  are  empty  when  the  sun  goes 
down,  they  can  eat  to  the  full  till  the  approach  of  morn- 
ing, when  they  can  sleep  till  noon.  Thus,  by  cutting 
short  their  waking  hours,  they  make  the  day  of  fasting 
a  very  short  one. 

But  this  mitigation  of  suffering  is  obtained  only  by  the 
more  favored  class.  The  workingmen,  the  laborer,  can- 
not work  at  night.  They  must  work  by  daylight,  and 
hence  the  privation  of  food   bears  most  heavily  upon 


HOW   THE   MOSLEMS  FAST  AND   PRAY  171 

them,  until  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  often  issues  in 
the  breaking  down  of  health,  if  not  the  sacrifice  of  life. 
How  they  can  bear  it,  is  more  than  I  can  tell.  To 
aggravate  their  misery,  they  sometimes  work  in  the 
fields  to  the  sound  of  brooks  coming  down  from  the  moun- 
tain side.  In  tliis  very  garden  of  the  convent,  there  were 
sluices  crossing  each  other,  to  irrigate  the  grounds, 
through  which  the  water  ran  swiftly.  It  seemed  to 
me  as  if  a  man  set  to  work  here,  under  this  burning 
African  sun,  must  be  driven  to  madness,  and  throw 
himself  upon  the  ground  to  take  one  long,  full  draught, 
and  die. 

But  there  are  those  who  are  capable  of  holding  in  sub- 
jection both  hunger  and  thirst.  Mr.  Grellet  told  me, 
that  during  the  fast  of  Ramadan,  so  rigidly  was  it  kept 
by  the  Kabyles  in  his  vineyard,  that  from  morning  to 
niglit,  though  they  worked  as  hard  as  ever,  they  touched 
absolutely  nothing;  they  ate  not  a  morsel  of  food,  nor 
suffered  a  drop  of  water  to  pass  their  lips  ! 

Nor  do  the  poor  fellows  give  themselves  much  indul- 
gence when  the  long,  hard  day  is  done,  but  turn  quietly 
to  their  bread  and  water.  However  the  richer  Moslems 
may  compensate  themselves  for  their  enforced  abstinence, 
nothing  that  can  be  called  riotous  living  can  be  imputed 
to  the  abstemious,  hard-working  Kabyles.  We  must 
confess  that  this  is  an  example  of  self-denial  that  puts 
all  our  Christian  fasting  to  shame. 

And  how  do  they  measure  time  ?  There  is  a  border- 
land between  day  and  night,  the  morning  and  evening  twi- 
light. When  does  the  day  begin,  and  when  does  it  end  ? 
A  true  Moslem  will  not  cut  short  the  holy  hours,  but 
rather  lengthen  them.  He  will  not  wait  for  the  rising 
of  the  sun.     If  there  be  those  who  would  have  a  little 


172  THE   BAEBARY   COAST 

more  slumber,  they  are  rudely  awakened  by  the  sound 
of  cannon.  At  Biskra  the  guns  were  fired  between 
three  and  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  to  rouse  the 
sleepers  to  hasten  (like  the  Israelites  going  up  out  of 
Egypt)  to  prepare  the  morning  meal,  knowing  that 
they  could  taste  nothing  more  until  the  going  down  of 
the  sun. 

As  with  fasting,  so  with  prayer.  At  Tangier  I  was 
often  awakened  by  a  far-off,  lonely  cry  that  came  up 
from  the  city  below.  What  could  it  be?  A  sentinel 
pacing  the  w^alls  and  sounding  an  alarm  ?  Or  a  watch- 
man crying  "  All's  well "  ?  It  was  the  muezzin  on  the 
minaret  of  the  mosque,  crying  to  the  half-awakened 
Moslems,  "  Sleep  is  good  /  hut  prayer  is  better  !  " 

The  habit  of  devotion  thus  begun,  is  kept  in  constant 
exercise.  Five  times  a  day  is  the  call  repeated.  And  no 
matter  where  it  comes — in  the  busy  city,  in  the  crowded 
street — it  strikes  on  the  ear  like  a  knell,  arrests  the  cur- 
rent of  worldly  thought,  and  turns  the  soul  to  God.  No 
presence  of  strangers  abashes  the  devout  believer.  What 
are  they,  poor  worms  of  the  dust,  like  himself,  in  the 
presence  of  the  Almighty  ?  God  is  everywhere,  and  His 
presence  makes  all  places  holy  :  whether  it  be  the  market 
or  the  bazaar,  the  house-top  or  the  deck  of  a  ship  ;  for 
the  hours  of  devotion  are  observed  whether  on  land  or 
sea.  I  once  crossed  the  Mediterranean  with  four  hun- 
dred pilgrims  on  their  way  to  Mecca,  and  very  impressive 
it  was  to  see  them  all  rise  from  the  deck  at  the  appointed 
times,  and,  standing  in  ranks  along  the  side  of  the  ship, 
turn  their  faces  to  the  east,  and  bow  themselves  and 
worship.  But  the  desert  is  more  lonely  than  the  sea,  for 
here  is  no  crowded  ship's  company.  The  camel-rider 
may  be  passing  over  it  quite  alone,  and  with  the  sense 


HOW  THE   MOSLEMS  FAST  AND   PRAY  173 

of  helplessness  and  need  there  comes  the  instinct  of 
prayer.  The  White  Father  told  me  how  the  poor  wan- 
derer knows  the  hours.  He  carries  no  timepiece  on  his 
half  naked  body.  But  nature  teaches  the  Arab,  as  it 
teaches  the  Indian,  simple  ways  of  determining  times 
and  distances.  He  awakes  early,  for  it  is  the  habit  of 
the  desert  to  travel  before  the  sun  has  risen  with  a  burn- 
ing heat.  There  may  not  be  a  glimmer  of  light  in  the 
east,  and  yet  there  is  something  which  the  keen  sense  of 
one  who  lives  on  the  desert  interprets  as  forerunner  of  the 
dawn.  Drawing  a  thread  before  his  eyes,  he  sees  only  a 
faint  line,  with  no  perception  of  color.  After  a  few  min- 
utes he  looks  again,  and  is  just  able  to  see  whether  the 
thread  is  white  or  black.  That  is  enough.  Awake ! 
awake !  It  is  the  time  to  pray  !  He  kneels  for  a  few 
minutes  upon  the  sand,  not  asking  God  for  protection 
and  guidance  so  much  as  pouring  out  his  soul  in  adora- 
tion of  the  Almighty  and  the  All-Merciful,  and  then 
mounts  and  presses  on  toward  the  horizon.  But  who 
shall  tell  him  when  it  is  noon  ?  He  looks  upward  and 
sees  the  sun  over  his  head :  it  is  on  the  meridian.  Again 
it  is  time  to  pray.  Another  long  stretch,  and  it  seems  to 
be  mid-afternoon.  He  dismounts  from  his  camel,  and, 
turning  his  back  to  the  sun,  measures  his  own  shadow. 
The  practised  eye  gets  to  be  very  accurate,  but,  to  make 
sure,  he  puts  one  foot  before  the  other,  not  a  step  apart, 
but  touching  each  other.  If  ten  times  the  length  of  his 
foot  be  just  equal  to  the  length  of  his  shadow,  it  is  once 
more  the  hour  to  pray.  Again,  at  the  hour  of  sunset, 
he  kneels  upon  the  barren  floor  of  the  desert  as  the 
golden  glow  flames  over  it ;  and  his  last  prayer  ascends 
to  heaven  as  the  long,  lingering  twilight  fades  in  the 
west,  and  the  stars  come  forth  in  the  sky. 


174  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

"What  means  this  habit  of  prayer  ?  Is  it  ignorant 
superstition  ?  Or  is  it  a  groping  after  Ilim  who  recog- 
nizes all  true  faith  as  acceptable  worship  ?  Condemn 
Islam  as  we  may,  we  cannot  deny  the  existence  of  an 
intense  religious  feeling  in  those  who  begin  and  end 
every  day  with  God. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

LION   HUNTING   IN  NUMIDIA 

As  we  rode  down  the  heights  of  Constantine,  the  Afri- 
can Gibraltar,  through  the  wall,  and  over  the  bridge 
that  spanned  the  gorge,  we  sank  down  to  common 
earth,  the  lower  level  which  makes  all  things  common. 
The  spell  was  broken  ;  but,  as  we  rolled  away,  we  kept 
looking  back,  as  I  had  once  turned  on  my  horse  again 
and  asrain  to  take  a  last  look  at  Jerusalem.  We  sat 
motionless  till  the  vision  disappeared,  when  other  scenes 
brought  other  associations.  We  Avere  now  in  the  heart  of 
ancient  Kumidia,  the  African  province  which  furnished  to 
Rome  the  lions  for  the  combats  in  the  Coliseum.  That 
race  of  royal  beasts,  I  took  for  granted,  was  long  since 
extinct ;  as  dead  as  the  gladiators  whom  they  fought. 
But,  on  coming  to  Africa,  I  found  that  they  had  an  ex- 
traordinary tenacity  of  life,  that  had  outlived  many  inva- 
sions and  many  wars,  outlasting  not  only  the  Roman 
dominion,  but  the  Arab  conquest ;  and,  indeed,  that 
lions  were  the  terror  of  the  country  till  long  after  the 
French  became  masters  of  Northern  Africa.  For  a  time 
this  became  the  hunting-ground  of  adventurous  French- 
men,  who  could  not  find  sufficient  excitement  in  hunting 
deer  in  the  forest  of  Fontainebleau. 

But  now  all  this  romance  of  the  chase  seemed  to 
have  disappeared  before  the  advance  of  civilization,  and, 
as  we  rode  over  the  settled  and  cultivated  country,  I 
as  little  expected  to  see  a  wild  beast  come  out  of  the 


176  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

forest  as  to  see  one  spring  out  of  the  woods  between 
New  York  and  Philadelphia.  And  yet  the  gallant 
huntress  whom  I  had  met  in  Kabylia,  and  who  surprised 
me  by  wearing  male  attire,  had  told  me  that  two  pan- 
thers had  been  killed  near  her  house  but  a  few  weeks 
before ;  and  that  one  had  passed  so  near  her  that  she 
could  not  only  hear  his  step  through  the  bush,  but 
almost  feel  his  hot  breath  upon  her  cheek.  But  a  few 
days  later,  I  saw,  in  one  of  the  cities  on  the  coast,  a 
crowd  in  the  street,  following  a  man  from  the  country, 
who  was  bending  under  the  burden  of  a  leopard  that  he 
had  shot  in  the  forest,  and  was  now  carr3ing  on  his  back 
to  the  government  office  to  receive  the  offered  reward. 

At  Duvivier  I  found  an  old  resident  of  the  place, 
whom  I  plied  with  questions  as  to  his  neighbors  of  the 
forest.  As  for  panthers  (or  leopards),  they  were  not  so 
plenty  as  formerly,  but  still  quite  enough  for  those  who 
were  fond  of  hunting,  and  altogether  too  many  for  those 
who  kept  flocks  and  herds.  But  the  old  man  evidently 
thought  little  of  such  "  varmints  "  as  these.  They  were 
small  game  to  one  who  had  heard  the  voice  of  some- 
thing far  grander,  and  could  tell  how  often,  on  a  sum- 
mer night,  as  he  sat  in  the  moonlight  before  his  cottage, 
he  could  hear  the  lions  shaking  the  mountains  with  their 
tremendous  roar ! 

And  now  we  were  in  the  very  centre  of  this  country 
of  lions.  The  principal  station  on  the  road  to-day  was 
Guelma,  which  was  the  headquarters  of  Jules  Gerard, 
the  famous  lion-hunter.  Some  years  ago  I  spent  a  night 
at  Guelma,  and  as  I  sat  in  the  little  hotel,  before  a  blaz- 
ing fire,  talking  with  the  people  of  the  country,  I  was 
perhaps  in  the  very  room  where  Jules  Gerard  had  sat 
night  after  night,  before  the  same  fire,  with  his  camarades. 


LION   HUNTING  IN  NUMIDIA  177 

recounting  the  adventures  of  the  day.  Would  that  he 
were  here  now  !  "What  a  dehght  to  listen  to  such  ad- 
ventures from  the  hero  of  them  all !  But  since  he  is 
not  here,  perhaps  I  may  give  an  outline  of  his  story,  for 
though  it  is  years  since  I  read  it,  it  took  such  hold  of  my 
imagination  that  it  is  still  fresh  in  m}'^  memory ;  and  if 
we  cannot  have  it  before  an  open  fire,  it  will  not  be  out 
of  place  in  this  railway  carriage,  as  we  are  passing  among 
the  mountains  that  were  the  scene  of  his  adventures. 

Up  to  the  time  of  Gerard's  coming,  the  Arabs  had  been 
living  in  constant  fear,  so  helpless  were  they  to  contend 
ajjainst  the  kino^  of  beasts.  When  the  lion  descended 
from  the  mountains  into  a  valley  rich  in  flocks  and 
herds,  he  was  "  monarch  of  all  he  surveyed."  No  war- 
rior coming  to  destroy  could  excite  greater  alarm  in  all 
the  country  round.  Such  was  the  terror  of  his  presence, 
that  the  natives  did  not  dare  to  be  abroad  at  night,  nor 
to  leave  their  herds  exposed,  as  a  missing  bullock  w^ould 
serve  for  the  monarch's  feast.  At  nightfall  all  the  flocks 
were  driven  into  the  douar,  or  native  village,  which  was 
surrounded  with  a  barricade  of  prickly  pear,  ten  feet  high. 
But  even  this  did  not  alwa3^s  protect  them,  for  the  lion, 
if  he  did  not  find  his  prey  in  the  plain,  followed  to  the 
douar,  and  after  snuffing  round  for  an  entrance,  would 
often  clear  the  barricade  at  a  bound,  and  striking  down 
a  bullock  within  the  enclosure,  drink  its  blood  at  their 
very  doors. 

Terrified  beyond  measure  at  the  presence  of  such  a 
destroyer,  the  natives  sought  every  means  to  be  rid  of 
him.  Digging  a  deep  pit,  they  covered  it  with  brush, 
and  tying  a  kid  near  it,  tried  to  lure  the  lion  into  the 
trap.  Sometimes  a  whole  village  would  venture  on  an 
attack,  and  keeping  up  their  courage  by  numbers  and 
12 


178  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

by  noise,  they  advanced  against  the  enem}'-,  who  lay  in 
some  covert,  watchful  though  motionless,  and  allowed 
them  to  approach,  only  waiting  till  they  were  within 
reach,  when  with  one  bound  he  sent  them  flying,  often 
killing  dogs  and  men,  and  escaping  unhurt.  If  they 
succeeded  in  wounding  him,  and  saw  that  he  was  crip- 
pled, they  took  courage  to  come  a  little  nearer,  till  with 
their  guns  and  spears  they  put  an  end  to  his  career.  But 
the  chances  were  that  he  would  kill  a  half  dozen  dogs, 
and  two  or  three  natives,  before  they  brought  him  to  the 
ground. 

In  the  midst  of  this  universal  terror  came  a  French- 
man, who  took  the  field  alone,  w^ith  a  single  attendant  to 
carry  ammunition  or  an  extra  gun,  but  who  prudently 
kept  in  the  rear  at  the  moment  of  danger. 

Though  Guelma  w^as  Gerard's  headquarters,  to  which 
he  retired  like  the  warrior  to  his  tent  after  a  battle,  the 
scene  of  his  operations  was  the  Yalley  of  Namouna,  deep 
set  in  an  amphitheatre  of  mountains.  He  always  hunted 
at  night,  as  that  is  the  time  w^hen  the  lion  leaves  his  moun- 
tain retreat  and  comes  down  to  seek  his  prey.  He  chose,  if 
possible,  a  moonlight  night,  in  which  he  could  see  about 
him,  for  all  he  asked  was  a  fair  field  and  no  favor.  If 
he  could  have  a  full  moon,  so  much  the  better.  At  such 
times  the  night  did  not  seem  long,  even  though  he  should 
Avatch  till  the  break  of  day.  Alone  he  sat  upon  the 
mountain-side,  listening  to  the  winds  stirring  in  the  trees, 
and  looking  down  into  the  valley  where  the  Arabs  were 
sleeping  in  their  dollar,  or,  more  probably,  listening  for 
the  shot  which  should  tell  them  that  they  were  at  last 
rid  of  their  great  enemy.  Sometimes  he  watched  all 
night  without  success,  as  the  destroyer  was  seeking  his 
prey  elsewhere. 


LION   HUNTING  IN  NUMIDIA  179 

When  a  lion  was  the  scourge  of  a  whole  district,  the 
natives,  who  were  daily  witnesses  of  his  depredations, 
w^ere  able  to  report  his  nocturnal  habits.  Gerard  in- 
quired of  them  very  carefully  the  direction  of  his 
mountain  retreats,  and  by  what  path  he  was  accustomed 
to  descend  into  the  valley.  Then  he  placed  himself  in 
the  lion's  path,  choosing  some  spot  where  he  could  rest, 
while  waiting,  at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  or  by  some  pool  in 
the  mountain  stream  to  which  the  lion  came  to  drink. 
Here,  about  midnight,  he  heard  the  distant  roar  which 
announced  that  the  king  of  the  forest  had  left  his  moun- 
tain lair  and  was  abroad.  lie  heard  it  with  a  thrill  of 
delight,  which  became  more  intense  as  the  royal  beast 
came  nearer  and  nearer.  At  length  he  heard  him  coming 
through  the  forest,  the  branches  of  trees  crackling  under 
the  leonine  footsteps.  The  hunter  almost  ceased  to 
breathe  as  the  undergrowth  was  brushed  aside,  and  the 
great  head  came  to  view  in  the  moonlight,  where  he 
could  watch  every  motion.  At  the  same  moment  the 
lion  saw  him,  and  his  heart  almost  ceased  beating  as 
those  great  eyes  glared  upon  him.  Kow  was  the  critical 
moment.  An  instant's  lapse  of  self-possession  and  he 
was  lost,  for  the  lion  was  preparing  to  spring.  The 
hunter  sank  upon  his  right  knee,  resting  upon  the  left 
the  elbow  of  the  arm  that  held  the  fatal  weapon.  Thus, 
with  his  finger  on  the  trigger,  he  waited  an  instant, 
hoping  that  some  sound  in  the  forest  mJght  lead  the 
monster  to  turn  his  head  so  as  to  expose  a  point  between 
the  eye  and  ear,  which  was  the  surest  passage  to  the 
brain.  If,  as  was  sometimes  the  case,  the  moon  had  not 
risen,  or  had  set,  and  he  was  in  darkness,  he  had  only  to 
guide  his  aim  those  great  glaring  eyeballs,  which  shone 
like  lamps  in  the  gloom  of  the  forest.     Then  he  aimed 


180  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

between  the  eyes.  A  moment,  a  flash,  a  sharp  crack  of 
the  rifle,  and  the  bullet  sank  into  the  lion's  brain ;  and 
with  one  spring  into  the  air,  he  fell  at  the  hunter's  feet. 

Sometimes  the  end  was  not  so  sudden.  Though  mor- 
tally wounded,  the  king  of  beasts  still  retained  strength 
for  a  last  effort,  and  the  hunter  was  still  in  peril,  till  a 
second  shot  had  followed  in  the  track  of  the  first. 

Then,  when  the  lion  was  fairly  dead,  dead  beyond  wak- 
ing— for  the  Arabs  were  very  sceptical  on  this  point, 
and  waited  for  half  an  hour  to  see  if  he  did  not  utter  a 
deep  growl,  or  strike  a  last  blow  with  one  of  his  tre- 
mendous paws — when  the  beast  was  still,  the  natives 
who  had  been  lurking  on  the  outskirts  of  the  wood  ven- 
tured to  approach,  and  at  last  touching  him  with  their 
spears,  and  seeing  that  he  did  not  resent  the  familiarity, 
they  fired  their  guns  over  the  body  of  the  prostrate  foe, 
a  fusillade  from  the  mountain  which  was  answered  from 
the  valley,  in  token  of  the  universal  joy  that  the  tyrant 
was  dead ;  that  young  men  and  maidens  need  not  trem- 
ble as  they  w^ent  forth  on  moonlight  nights,  and  that 
their  flocks  and  herds  in  the  valley  might  rest  in  peace. 

''  A  pretty  tale,  'tis  true ;  but  hardly  worthy  to  be 
included  in  so  grave  a  chronicle!  "  But  may  not  even 
the  hunter  have  "  builded  better  than  he  knew"? 
"  Nirarod  was  a  mighty  hunter  before  the  Lord,"  and  he 
may  have  led  the  way  for  other  messengers  of  the  Lord 
to  penetrate  the  wilderness.  We  are  not  to  despise  the 
courage  that  plunges  into  the  jungle  or  the  forest,  or 
that  takes  dangers  from  which  others  shrink.  When 
Jules  Gerard  went  to  Africa  to  hunt  lions,  he  had  no 
moral  purpose  whatever,  nor  a  thought  of  doing  good  to 
anybody,  but  simply  of  giving  himself  the  intense  excite- 
ment of  hunting  the  most  powerful  of  wild  beasts,  the 


LION  HUNTING   IN  NUMIDIA  181 

terror  of  the  mountain  and  the  desert,  a  form  of  sport 
which  was  at  once  the  most  daring  and  dangerous.  And 
yet  the  result  was  a  great  practical  benefit  by  delivering 
the  natives  of  the  country  from  the  fear  under  which  they 
had  been  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage.  What  all 
the  tribes  together  had  failed  to  do ;  what  even  a  regi- 
ment of  soldiers  sent  into  the  mountains  might  not  have 
accomplished — he  did  alone,  with  his  trusty  rifle,  his 
keen  eye,  his  unshaken  nerves,  and  his  firm  hand.  In 
thus  delivering  the  poor  people  from  their  terrible  fear, 
he  rendered  it  possible  for  them  to  live  quietly  in  their 
homes  and  their  villages,  the  first  condition  of  civilization. 
In  the  list  of  the  benefactors  of  Africa,  we  must  not 
overlook  the  huntere,  who  have  often  led  the  way  for 
others  to  follow.  The  men  who  have  opened  a  path 
into  the  heart  of  Africa  have  commonly  preceded  or 
succeeded  one  another  in  the  order  of  hunters,  traders, 
explorers,  and  missionaries ;  though  the  order  should  be 
sometimes  reversed,  and  the  missionary  placed  first,  as 
in  the  case  of  Livingstone,  who,  in  the  course  of  his  long 
journeys  in  the  interior,  was  a  great  discoverer  as  well 
as  an  apostle.  But  we  must  not  despise  those  sturdy 
pioneers  of  civilization  who  clear  a  way  through  the 
forest  by  their  axes  or  their  guns  ;  remembering  that  in 
the  description  of  the  happy  time  when  "the  wilderness 
and  the  solitary  place  shall  be  glad,  and  the  desert  shall 
rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose,"  one  feature  of  its  per- 
fect peace  and  quietness  is,  that  "  no  lion  shall  be  there, 
nor  shall  any  ravenous  beast  go  up  thereon  ! " 


CHAPTER  XYII 

THE    LAST    GEEAT   MAN    OF   AFEICA. 

We  had  been  travelling  under  the  shadow  of  moun- 
tains ;  we  were  now  to  come  under  something  greater, 
the  shadow  of  a  mighty  name.  The  glory  of  a  country  is 
its  great  men,  who,  by  their  genius,  their  elevation  of  char- 
acter or  force  of  will,  have  stamped  their  impress  on  an 
age,  and  left  an  example  to  other  generations.  Of  historic 
personages  Africa  has  had  its  full  share — mighty  kings 
like  Rameses  the  Great,  and  the  long  line  of  Pharaohs; 
Avhile  over  this  portion  of  Northern  Africa  flames  the 
glory  of  Carthage  and  of  Hannibal.  But  Africa  can 
boast  of  something  more  than  kings  and  conqueroi-s. 
The  greatest  thing  that  Egypt  gave  to  the  ancient  world 
was  not  her  warriors,  but  her  philosophei-s  and  teachers. 
Moses  was  learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians, 
and  Plato  studied  philosophy  in  Egypt  before  he  taught 
philosophy  in  Greece. 

In  later  times  something  better  than  philosophy  rose 
upon  the  shores  of  Northern  Africa,  as  Christianity 
spread  along  the  Mediterranean.  Here  lived  many  of 
the  successors  of  the  Apostles,  the  Fathers  of  the  Primi- 
tive Church — Tertullian  and  Origen,  Cyril  of  Alex- 
andria, and  Cyprian  of  Carthage ;  and,  greatest  of  all, 
Auijustine,  whom  Archdeacon  Farrar  crowns  with  the 
title  of  "the  last  great  man  of  Africa,  after  Avhom  came 
the  reign  of  barbarism."  Great,  not  as  a  warrior  like 
Hannibal,  but  as  a  ruler  of  the  opinions  of  men  in  all 


THE   LAST   GREAT   MAN   OF   AFRICA  183 

succeeding  ages.  Augustine  has  had  the  singular  honor 
of  being  venerated  ahke  in  Catholic  and  in  Protestant 
Christendom.  In  the  fierce  controversies  of  the  former, 
his  has  been  tlie  authority  to  which  both  sides  appealed. 
Of  Jansen,  the  founder  of  the  sect  of  Jansenists,  it  is 
said :  "  Ten  times  he  read  over  every  word  of  Augus- 
tine ;  thirty  times  he  studied  all  those  passages  which 
relate  to  the  Pelagian  controversy."  All  Catholic 
writers  deferred  to  his  great  name  as  if  he  were  in- 
spired. Yet,  while  canonized  by  the  Church  of  Rome, 
he  was  a  leader  of  the  Reformers.  It  was  more  than  a 
thousand  yeara  after  he  was  in  his  grave  that  Luther 
was  born,  and  yet  Augustine  was  Luther's  master  and 
teacher,  whose  very  name  he  bore  (for  he  was  an  Augus- 
tinian  monk) ;  and  even  after  he  left  the  Church  of  Rome, 
he  still  looked  up  to  Augustine  as  the  greatest  of  tlie 
Fathers,  regarding  him  with  unbounded  reverence,  and 
appealing  to  him  as  the  highest  authority  in  all  matters 
of  Christian  faith.  The  Five  Points  of  Calvinism,  includ- 
ing "  the  horrible  decree  ''  {decretum  horrihile),  are  only  a 
restatement  of  the  harsher  features  of  the  Augustinian 
theology.  Traces  of  the  same  mighty  influence  may  be 
found  in  all  Protestant  creeds,  in  the  "Westminster  Con- 
fession, and  in  the  Churches  of  Scotland  and  America. 

He  who,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  fourteen  hundred 
years,  still  rules  to  such  an  extent  both  the  Catholic  and 
the  Protestant  world  must  surely  be  accounted  one  of 
the  great  men,  not  only  of  the  ancient  Church,  but  of  all 
antiquity ;  and  it  could  not  be  an  extravagance  of  hero 
worship  that  should  lead  a  traveller  from  beyond  the 
sea  to  seek  out  the  place  where  he  was  born,  and  to 
make  a  pilgrimage  to  the  city  in  which  he  spent  his 
active  life,  and  where  he  died. 


184  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

Where  was  he  born  ?  A  few  years  ago  this  question 
could  not  have  been  answered ;  for  though  all  the  biog- 
raphies (and  they  have  been  innumerable)  have  said  that 
he  was  born  at  Sagaste,  a  town  in  JSTumidia,  yet  so 
numerous  had  been  the  revolutions  that  swept  over 
Northern  Africa,  with  the  frequent  change  of  masters 
and  of  languages,  that  localities  were  confused,  so  that 
the  very  name  of  Sagaste  was  obliterated  from  geog- 
raphy, and  no  one  could  put  his  finger  upon  the  map  and 
say  precisely  where  it  stood.  It  is  only  a  few  years 
since  the  uncovering  of  an  ancient  monument,  with  a 
Latin  inscription,  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  long-lost 
site,  which  was  found  bearing  quite  another  name,  the 
unmelodious  name  of  Souk  Ahras,  which,  as  it  was  com- 
posed of  two  Arabic  words,  showed  that  it  had  been  so 
called  after  the  Arab  conquest. 

The  place  itself  is  as  unattractive  as  the  name.  He 
who  goes  very  far  on  purpose  to  see  it,  will  be  dis- 
appointed, for  there  is  little  to  see,  and  the  approaches 
are  disenchanting.  Even  pilgrims  to  Jerusalem  now 
mournfully  confess  that  the  awe-inspiring  associations 
are  grievously  disturbed  when  they  approach  the  Holy 
City  by  a  railroad  !  And  so  it  disconcerts  us  to  find 
that  Souk  Ahras  is  only  a  station  on  the  Algerian  rail- 
way, and  that,  as  the  traveller  steps  out  upon  the  plat- 
form, his  eye  ranges  over  a  mass  of  railroad  shops. 
And  yet  a  little  imagination  will  enable  him  to  over- 
come these  commonplace  realities,  and  it  will  be  some- 
thing to  "breathe  the  haunted  air;"  to  look  round  on 
the  very  hills  which  met  the  great  Augustine  when  he 
first  opened  his  eyes  on  the  world,  and  the  fields 

' '  Where  once  his  careless  childhood  strayed, 
A  stranger  yet  to  pain." 


THE   LAST  GREAT  MAN   OP  AFRICA  185 

The  father  of  Augustine  was  a  man  of  some  position, 
though  not  of  high  rank.  He  had  but  a  modest  fortune, 
which  he  economized  to  the  utmost  for  the  education  of 
his  son,  who,  at  a  very  early  age,  showed  uncommon 
brightness  and  intelligence,  though  nothing  that  gave 
promise  that  he  would  ever  be  a  saint.  Sent  to  Medaura 
first,  and  then  to  Carthage  for  his  education,  he  fell  into 
the  waj's  of  the  gilded  youth  of  his  time,  the  story  of 
which  he  tells  in  his  "  Confessions  "  with  the  frankness 
of  Rousseau,  though  not  "with  such  total  insensibility  to 
the  difference  between  good  and  evil.  But  with  all  his 
delinquencies,  his  natural  thirst  for  knowledge  made 
him  an  ardent  student.  It  was  an  age  of  intellectual 
activity.  Greek  philosophy  was  not  confined  to  the 
other  side  of  the  Mediterranean,  but  was  taught  in 
the  schools  of  Alexandria  and  of  Carthage.  Side  by 
side  with  this  was  the  new  religion,  which  had  spread  to 
every  part  of  the  Eoman  Empire,  in  Europe,  Asia, 
and  Africa,  Avhere  it  had  to  combat  the  old  idolatries. 
Thrown  into  such  a  chaos  of  opinions,  Augustine  looked 
round  him  with  an  impartial  eye.  He  was  of  a  specu- 
lative turn  of  mind,  and  studied  all  schools  and  all 
philosophies.  And  in  the  higher  sphere  of  religion  he 
sought  for  a  rational  belief  with  a  boldness  unrestrained 
by  any  fear  of  consequences  to  himself  in  this  world  or 
the  next.  He  looked  upon  a  spiritual  faith  with  the 
same  coolness  and  indifference  as  upon  Greek  philos- 
ophy; and,  comparing  one  religion  with  another,  his 
opinion,  if  frankly  given,  would  probably  have  been 
that  of  the  modern  sceptic,  that  all  religions  were 
equally  true,  or,  rather,  that  they  were  equally  false. 

While  wandering  in  this  maze  of  speculation,  he 
thought  at  one  time  to  find  a  solution  of  the  mystery 


186  I'HE   BAKBARY   COAST 

of  the  world  and  of  human  existence  in  Manichaeisra, 
according  to  which  there  was  not  one  God  who  ruled 
the  universe  alone,  but  two  conflicting  powers,  answer- 
ing to  the  Ormuzd  and  Ahriman  of  the  Persians:  a 
prince  of  light  and  a  prince  of  darkness,  whose  king- 
doms bordered  each  other,  and  invaded  each  other,  like 
"  the  great  cloud  "  in  the  vision  of  Ezekiel,  with  "  a  fire 
infolding  itself ; "  the  cloud  now  rolling  up  the  sky  till  it 
covered  the  whole  heaven,  when  the  central  fire  broke 
through  it  and  drove  it  awa}''.  Every  man  had  two 
souls :  one  inclining  to  good,  and  the  other  to  evil ;  and  his 
mission  was  to  subject  the  latter  to  the  former — a  fancy 
which,  if  it  were  taken  as  an  allegory,  might  be  inter- 
preted in  accord  both  with  philosophy  and  religion.  For 
though  man  has  but  one  soul,  there  are  within  the  com- 
pass of  that  soul  two  natures,  a  higher  and  a  lower,  two 
strong  forces  that  struggle  within  us,  the  one  combining 
the  reason  and  the  conscience,  that  are  forever  at  war 
with  the  baser  passions,  with  pride  and  self-will.  This 
was  the  philosophy  of  Paul,  to  which  Augustine  came 
when  at  last  he  had  shaken  off  the  misty  vagaries  of 
philosophy  and  come  out  into  the  clear  light  of  Christian 
truth.  But  that  light  he  was  not  to  find  in  Africa.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-nine  he  left  Carthage  for  Rome, 
where  a  wider  door  was  open  to  genius  and  ambition. 
He  was  a  teacher  of  rhetoric,  and  a  master  of  that  which 
he  taught ;  so  much  so,  that  he  soon  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  foremost  teacher  of  elocution  in  Rome,  who 
recommended  him  to  a  similar  position  in  Milan. 

His  removal  to  that  city  was  the  turning  point  in  his 
life.  Milan  had  then  for  its  bishop  one  whose  name 
will  live  forever  in  the  history  of  the  Church  as  Saint 
Ambrose,  a  man  who  combined  in  himself  the  greatest 


THE  LAST  GREAT  MAN   OF  AFRICA  187 

gifts  with  the  noblest  character.  Not  only  was  he  the 
foremost  preacher  of  his  day,  but  he  had  in  him  some- 
thing more  than  learning,  or  eloquence,  or  even  devo- 
tion— an  extraordinary  personality — a  love  of  justice  and 
of  truth,  with  undaunted  courage,  which  gives  to  him 
who  possesses  it  a  sort  of  imperial  right  of  command 
over  other  men.  Ambrose  never  feared  the  face  of  man. 
"When  he  stood  before  kings  it  was  not  as  a  suppliant  for 
favor,  but  as  an  equal,  or  even,  by  right  of  his  spiritual 
authority,  as  a  superior.  He  loved  righteousness  and 
hated  iniquity.  He  abhorred  every  form  of  injustice 
and  wrong ;  nor  did  he  hesitate  to  denounce  from  the 
pulpit  and  the  altar  the  ruler,  whoever  he  might  be, 
whose  hands  were  stained  with  blood.  When  the 
Emperor  Theodosius,  in  a  fury  of  passion,  had  ordered  a 
brutal  ■  massacre,  and  afterwards  returned  to  Milan,  he 
found  the  doors  of  the  sanctuary  shut  against  him  ;  and, 
though  he  had  professed  Christianity,  he  was  denied  the 
sacraments,  and  driven  from  the  altar,  until  he  atoned 
for  his  crime  by  the  most  humiliating  confession^  and 
asking  pardon  of  God  and  men. 

A  man  who  thus  withstood  all  the  power  of  a  Roman 
emperor,  and  who  was  always  the  protector  of  the  weak 
against  the  strong,  was  adored  by  the  people.  This  was 
a  character  to  excite  the  admiration  of  Augustine,  who 
despised  inferior  men.  When  the  young  African  first 
stood  amid  the  crowd  that  thronged  the  basilica  of  Milan, 
to  hear  Saint  Ambrose,  it  was  as  a  student  and  a  critic, 
to  learn  the  secret  of  his  power.  But  he  soon  found 
stealing  over  him  an  influence  that  he  could  not  explain. 
It  was  not  the  sound  of  the  voice  ;  not  the  music  of  the 
words ;  not  even  the  sublimity  of  the  prayers,  nor  the 
chants  which  still  live  in  the  hymns  of  the  ages;  but 


188  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

with  all  this  came  the  conviction  that,  behind  this  impos- 
ing ritual,  this  pomp  of  service,  there  was  a  Divine  reality. 
In  this  man  he  recognized  a  character  that  could  be 
formed  only  under  the  influence  of  religion.  When 
Ambrose  spoke  to  him  with  the  gentleness  of  one  speak- 
ing to  his  own  son,  Augustine  listened  and  wondered 
and  wept,  till  at  last  the  change  was  complete ;  and 
on  Easter  eve,  in  387,  he  was  baptized  by  the  hand  of 
one  to  whom  he  could  look  up  as  truly  his  father  in 
God. 

If  that  was  a  moment  of  supreme  interest  to  Augustine, 
it  was  hardly  less  so  to  her  who  had  watched  over  him 
ever  since  he  was  born,  and  who  now  stood  by  his  side. 
Monica  was  a  woman  of  saintly  piety,  and  her  one  desire 
had  been  that  her  son  might  accept  the  faith  that  was 
so  precious  to  her.  She  trembled  for  him  when  he  left 
the  shelter  of  her  roof.  She  followed  him  to  Carthage; 
she  followed  him  to  Rome,  and  then  to  Milan ;  and  as 
she  saw  him  slowl}''  yielding  to  the  wondrous  power  and 
fascination  of  Ambrose,  she  began  to  hope ;  and  when,  at 
last,  her  prayers  were  answered,  her  cup  was  so  full  that 
she  was  ready  to  die  for  joy.  That  joy  was  prophetic  of 
what  was  to  come. 

With  the  changed  feeling  that  had  come  into  the  heart 
of  Augustine,  was  a  changed  purpose  as  to  his  life ;  and 
his  first  desire  was  to  return  to  Africa,  that,  like  Paul, 
he  might  preach  the  faith  that  he  once  destroyed.  Ac- 
companied by  his  mother,  he  set  out  for  Ostia,  the  port 
of  Rome,  from  which  they  were  to  embark  for  Carthage. 
As  they  waited  a  few  days  for  the  ship,  they  had  the  full 
enjoyment  of  each  others  society.  Never  had  their 
communion  been  so  sweet : 

"  Ah  I  little  knew  they  'twas  their  last." 


THE  LAST   GREAT  MAN   OF  AFRICA  189 

Archdeacon  Farrar  has  told  the  story  of  their  last 
days  together  with  exquisite  tenderness : 

"  One  evening  Augustine  and  his  mother  were  sitting 
at  a  window.  As  they  leaned  on  the  window-sill,  under 
the  unclouded  starlight,  looking  over  the  garden  and  the 
sea,  the  sweet  and  solemn  stillness  of  the  hour  attuned 
their  thoughts  to  holy  things.  They  talked  together  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  .  .  .  The  mother  and  son  raised 
their  whole  hearts  to  heaven,  until  they  seemed  to  have 
left  all  earthly  thoughts  behind,  and  enjoyed  a  foretaste 
of  the  hour  when  the  faithful  shall  enter  into  the  joy  of 
their  Lord.  JSIonica  said  that  she  had  nothing  more  to 
bind  her  to  this  world.  She  had  desired  to  linger  a  little 
longer,  that  she  might  see  him  a  Christian.  This  desire 
of  her  heart  God  had  granted,  and  now  she  was  ready 
to  depart. 

"  Augustine  enjoyed  the  glories  of  nature,  and  the  sea 
always  affected  him  with  peculiar  delight  and  awe. 
Xever  could  he  have  gazed  over  the  twilight  waves  with 
higher  and  holier  feelings  than  on  this  memorable  even- 
ing.  About  five  days  after  this  happy  talk  Monica  was 
seized  with  a  fever,  and  fell  into  a  long  swoon.  .  .  . 
On  the  ninth  day  of  her  illness  that  faithful  and  holy 
soul  was  set  free  from  the  mortal  body.  She  was  in  the 
fifty-sixth  year  of  her  age.    Augustine  was  thirty-three." 

The  death  of  his  mother  changed  the  plans  of  her  son. 
It  would  be  too  sad  to  go  alone,  and  he  returned  to 
Rome,  and  spent  a  year  in  study  and  in  writing  on  those 
religious  subjects  which  now  occupied  all  his  thoughts. 
Then  he  began  once  more  to  sigh  for  Africa,  and  sailed 
for  Carthage,  never  again  to  leave  the  country  in  which 
he  was  born.  Returning  to  the  old  home  at  Sagaste, 
where  he  had  a  little  estate  from  his  father,  he  sold  it 


190  THE  BABBARY  COAST 

and  gave  all  to  the  poor,  that  he  might  have  nothing  to 
turn  his  thoughts  from  the  service  of  God.  For  three 
years  he  lived  in  monastic  seclusion  with  a  few  friends, 
devoting  his  life  to  study  and  prayer,  and  to  the  writing 
of  what  might  be  a  means  of  instruction  to  others.  His 
fame  spread  abroad  till  the  churches  turned  to  him  with 
a  desire  to  draw  him  from  his  retreat.  But  he  pre- 
ferred to  be  far  from  the  great  world.  And  it  was  only 
by  the  kindly  ruse  of  a  friend  that  he  was  drawn  to 
Hippo,  where  the  bishop  was  growing  old  and  feeble ; 
and  Augustine  was  almost  literally  seized  by  the  people, 
and  compelled  to  become  the  bishop's  assistant,  and,  after 
five  years,  to  be  his  successor. 

It  is  not  often  that  a  man  is  made  a  bishop  against  his 
will.  But  so  it  was  with  Augustine,  as  it  had  been  with 
Ambrose  before  him.  When  Ambrose  was  chosen  bishop 
of  Milan  he  was  not  even  a  priest,  nor  had  he  been  so 
much  as  baptized,  though  he  was  a  catechumen.  He 
was  by  profession  a  lawyer,  and  had  shown  such  ability 
that  he  was  made  governor  of  two  provinces,  with  his 
capital  at  Milan,  in  which  capacity  it  was  his  duty  to 
preside  at  the  election  of  a  bishop.  There  were  two  par- 
ties, and  he  presided  with  such  a  spirit  of  conciliation, 
that  suddenly  the  popular  feeling  turned  to  him  as  the 
man  to  heal  all  differences,  and  he  was  chosen  by  accla- 
mation. He  tried  to  escape,  but  the  people  would  not 
let  him  go  ;  and  eight  days  after  his  baptism  he  was  con- 
secrated Bishop  of  Milan,  and  from  that  moment  ruled  in 
the  house  of  God,  not  only  with  the  dignity  of  a  Roman 
senator,  but  with  the  authorit}^  of  a  Eoman  pontiff. 

Augustine,  too,  was  forced  into  a  place  for  which  he 
had  no  ambition.  He  cared  not  for  powder.  His  tastes 
were  those  of  a  scholar  and  a  monk.     He  loved  the  quiet 


THE   LAST   GREAT   MAN   OF   AFRICA  191 

of  the  country,  the  walks  among  the  hills,  the  silence 
and  the  solitude,  in  which  he  could  be  alone  with  God. 
But  he  had  learned  obedience  to  the  call  of  duty,  and 
Avhen  it  pointed  to  a  larger  field  for  the  exercise  of  his 
great  gifts,  he  had  only  to  obey.  Thus  it  was  that  he 
became  Bishop  of  Hippo,  a  city  which  has  lost  its  ancient 
name,  changing  it  with  its  conquerors,  till  it  became 
Bona,  or  Bone,  to  adopt  the  French  spelling  of  its  latest 
masters.  It  lies  on  the  coast,  sixty  miles  from  the  spot 
where  he  was  born,  and  two  hundred  from  Carthage. 
Here  came  Augustine,  in  the  fortieth  year  of  his  age, 
in  the  prime  of  manhood,  to  enter  on  the  great  work 
of  his  life ;  and  hither  the  traveller  comes  to  find  some 
trace  or  memorial  of  "  the  last  great  man  of  Africa." 

It  was  evening  when  we  arrived  at  Bone.  The  next 
morning  showed  us  a  French  town,  divided  by  the  Cours 
Rationale,  a  broad  central  avenue,  wide  enough  for  open 
spaces  between  the  drives,  with  grass  and  trees,  where 
the  people  meet  to  enjoy  the  summer  evenings.  It  ex- 
tends to  the  harbor,  in  which  are  lying  at  all  times  ships 
and  steamers  that  trade  to  all  parts  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean. At  the  end  of  the  Cours  stands  a  bronze  statue 
of  M.  Thiers,  in  honor  of  the  great  statesman  who  had 
so  much  to  do  with  the  creation  of  French  Africa. 

Of  course,  my  first  object  was  to  search  out  anything 
associated  with  Augustine.  But  the  ancient  Hippo  is 
gone.  Not  a  trace  remains.  He  died  while  it  was  being 
besieged  by  the  Yandals,  and  hardly  was  he  in  his  grave 
when  it  was  taken  and  burned  to  the  ground.  It  rose 
from  its  ashes,  but  fared  little  better  when  it  fell  into  the 
hands  of  its  Arab  masters.  But  now  that  it  belongs 
to  the  French,  they  have  a  just  pride  in  honoring  the 
memory  of  one  whose  name  is  its  own  chief  distinction. 


192  THE  BAKBARY   COAST 

At  the  head  of  the  Cours  Nationale  stands  the  Cathe- 
dral of  St.  Augustine ;  and  as  if  one  church  were  not 
sufficient  to  keep  his  name  in  perpetual  honor,  another 
and  still  grander  is  now  in  process  of  erection  on  a  hill 
a  mile  or  two  distant,  in  front  of  which  rises  a  bronze 
statue  of  the  saint,  looking  towards  the  city  as  if  to  give 
it  his  benediction.  In  the  crypt  of  the  church  hangs, 
among  other  simple  pictures,  one  of  Augustine  in  his 
youth,  with  his  beloved  Monica,  and,  underneath,  his 
own  touching  testimony :  "  If  I  do  not  perish,  I  owe  it 
to  my  mother  !  " 

In  the  rear  of  the  church  is  a  hospital,  or,  rather,  a 
retreat  for  the  aged  and  helpless,  who  have  no  means  of 
support ;  and  who,  instead  of  being  sent  to  an  alms- 
house, here  find  a  decent  home,  and  are  cared  for  by  the 
Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor.  Among  those  devoted  to  this 
beautiful  charity,  I  learned  that  there  was  one  of  Ameri- 
can birth,  and  asked  if  I  might  see  her,  to  which  there 
was  no  objection,  and  she  soon  appeared  in  her  white  cap 
and  Quaker-like  dress.  She  told  me  that  she  was  from 
New  York,  though  of  Irish  descent,  where  her  family 
were  still  living.  In  my  innocence  I  asked  her  name, 
at  which  she  was  not  offended,  but  answered  gentl}^  that 
there  were  three  things  which  she  was  not  permitted  to 
reveal :  her  age  (which,  of  course,  no  one  would  be  so 
impertinent  as  to  ask),  nor  her  name  and  family  ;  and,  on 
a  moment's  reflection,  I  could  well  understand  that  a 
religieuse  might  not  wish  to  give  her  address  to  a 
stranger,  and  apologized  for  the  inquiry.  "What  I  was 
more  interested  and  gratified  to  learn  was,  that  she  was 
not  only  contented,  but  happy  in  her  life,  with  all  its 
monotony,  for  she  never  goes  outside  of  these  walls.  She 
could  go  if  she  wished,  and  had  been  several  times ;  but 


THE   LAST   GREAT   MAN   OF  AFRICA  193 

now,  apparently,  she  had  no  desire  to  go.  Summer  and 
winter,  spring  and  autumn,  were  ahke  to  her.  Day  after 
day  it  was  the  same  round,  watching  over  the  poor,  the 
aged,  and  the  dying.  And  j^et,  mystery  of  mysteries,  she 
was  happy,  and  aslied  for  nothing  more.  I  have  observed 
the  same  thing  elsewhere  in  institutions  of  charity  and 
among  missionaries,  that  in  doing  good  to  others,  they 
find  a  fountain  of  happiness  springing  up  in  their  own 
breasts,  and  filling  them  with  peace.  God  bless  the  Little 
Sisters  of  the  Poor,  and  all,  in  any  land,  or  of  any  creed, 
who  are  giving  their  lives  to  the  relief  of  human  misery ! 

Though  the  ancient  Hippo  has  been  swept  away,  the 
surroundings  are  the  same.  Nature  does  not  change. 
Here  are  the  encircling  hills  and  the  broad,  open  bay, 
features  which  are  by  no  means  unimportant  in  the  life 
of  a  man  who,  with  all  his  philosophy,  had  a  nature  full 
of  poetry,  and  keenly  sensitive  to  all  the  aspects  of  the 
outer  world.  The  sea  had  a  peculiar  fascination  for  him, 
and  we  ma}^  be  sure  that  he  was  not  long  awav  from 
its  companionship.  There  it  was,  right  before  him,  its 
waters  glistening  in  the  African  sun.  To  this  day  the 
most  beautiful  feature  of  the  environs  of  Bone  is  the 
drive  for  miles  along  the  ba}',  winding  in  and  out,  now 
coming  down  to  the  water's  edge,  and  now  rising  to  a  hill- 
top on  which  stands  an  old  fort ;  and  beyond,  a  bold  head- 
land jutting  into  the  Mediterranean.  AVho  can  doubt  that 
this  was  a  favorite  retreat  of  Augustine ;  that  he  often 
sauntered  along  this  shore  at  the  eventide,  to  escape  from 
the  littleness  of  men,  or  forget  the  cares  of  the  world,  in 
meditation  on  things  that  are  unseen  and  eternal ! 

For  five  years  Augustine  was  only  an  assistant  bishop, 
though  his  superior  leaned  upon  him  more  and  more,  till 
the  title  as  well  as  the  duties  fell  upon  him,  and  it  was 
13 


194  THE  BARBAKY   COAST 

as  the  Bishop  of  Hippo  that  his  name  became  known 
not  only  in  Africa,  but  throughout  the  Christian  world. 
How  did  he  bear  himself  in  his  great  oflBce  ? 

First  of  all  were  his  duties  as  the  father  of  his  people. 
Thdy  soon  found  that  he  was  a  father  indeed,  to  whom 
they  could  come  with  the  confidence  of  children.  Who- 
ever was  in  any  trouble  of  mind,  in  any  perplexity  of 
conscience,  or  in  any  deep  sorrow,  was  sure  to  find  in 
the  good  bishop  an  attentive  listener,  a  wise  counsellor, 
and  a  S3'rapathizing  friend.  He  was  the  father  of  the 
orphan,  and  the  widow's  stay.  ISTor  did  he  wait  for  them 
to  come  to  him  :  he  went  to  them.  Misery  had  not  to 
force  itself  upon  him  :  he  sought  it  out ;  he  went  among 
the  poor ;  he  sat  by  the  bedside  of  the  sick ;  he  gave 
consolation  to  the  dying.  Nor  did  he  undertake  these 
duties  grudgingly,  as  if  they  cut  short  hours  too  precious 
to  be  given  to  the  poor ;  but  gladly,  as  a  service  in 
which  he  might  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Him  who  went 
about  doing  good. 

But  a  man  of  capacity  for  things  of  greatest  moment 
had  duties  to  the  Church  at  large.  The  beginning  of  the 
fifth  century  was  a  time  of  agitation  and  division.  The 
Church  was  split  into  parties,  which,  if  they  took  their 
rise  in  the  East,  did  not  end  there.  All  the  combatants 
carried  the  war  into  Africa.  Against  the  heretics  of 
the  day  Augustine  was  the  most  powerful  advocate  of 
the  Catholic  faith.  But  these  writings  have  little  inter- 
est for  us  now,  that  even  the  names  of  the  heretics  live 
only  in  history.  Who  cares  to  read  the  long  arguments 
against  the  Manichaeans  and  Donatists  ?  The  controversy 
with  Pelagius  has  more  interest,  as  the  question  of  fore- 
ordination  and  decrees,  as  against  grace  and  free  will,  is 
still  at  issue  between  Calvinists  and  Methodists. 


THE  LAST  GREAT  MAN  OF   AFRICA  195 

The  mass  of  these  controversial  writings  is  almost 
incredible,  and  shows  his  immense  intellectual  activity. 
Perhaps  there  is  too  much  display  of  these  weapons  of 
war,  as  it  gives  the  bishop  a  martial  appearance,  as  if  he 
were  a  soldier  holding  a  fortress,  with  guns  pointing  in 
every  direction ;  a  figure  which,  however  heroic,  is  not 
that  of  the  Good  Shepherd  leading  his  flock  in  green 
pastures  and  beside  the  still  waters. 

In  reading  the  "  Confessions,"  it  is  impossible  not  to 
feel  that  his  theology  grew,  in  part,  out  of  his  personal 
experience.  As  he  had  seen  the  temptations  of  Carthage 
and  of  Rome,  he  could  well  believe  that  the  whole  world 
was  lying  in  wickedness.  As  he  had  been  snatched  as  a 
brand  from  the  burning,  it  was  a  natural  inference  that 
it  was  by  a  special  election  of  God  that  he  had  been 
called  out  of  darkness  into  His  marvellous  light.  We 
see,  also,  in  that  sensitive  nature,  the  reflection  of  what 
was  passing  in  the  outside  world.  He  lived  in  one  of  the 
most  awful  periods  of  human  history.  The  Roman  Em- 
pire, that  had  been  master  of  the  world  for  hundreds  of 
years,  was  breaking  to  pieces,  and,  in  the  general  wreck, 
he  may  well  have  thought  that  the  bulk  of  the  race  was 
doomed  to  destruction,  and  that  there  were  few  that 
would  be  saved. 

As  an  interpreter  of  the  Scriptures,  Augustine  cannot 
be  ranked  very  high,  since  he  could  not  read  them  in 
the  original  tongues.  He  was  not  a  scholar  like  Origen 
or  Jerome  ;  he  knew  nothing  of  Hebrew,  and  little  of 
Greek,  and  had  to  rely,  even  in  his  own  devotions,  on  a 
Latin  translation  ;  so  that  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  fell 
into  errors  of  interpretation,  that  are  easily  exposed  by 
modern  scholars. 

But  a  man  need  not  be  a  great  scholar  to  be  a  theo- 


196'  THE   BARBARY    COAST 

logian,  which  requires  rather  a  philosophical  habit  of 
mind,  in  which  theology  is  evolved  like  any  other  system 
of  pure  speculation. 

This  habit  of  mind  Augustine  possessed  in  a  high 
degree,  and  no  sooner  did  he  accept  the  facts  of  the 
origin  of  Christianity  than  he  began  to  philosophize 
upon  them,  and  sometimes  drew  conclusions  that  are 
staggering  to  simple-minded  believers ;  so  that,  with  all 
our  reverence  for  his  authority,  we  must  still  reserve 
our  liberty.  His  inexorable  logic  may  drive  us  to  con- 
clusions from  which  nature  revolts.  For  my  part,  I  can- 
not see  the  difference  in  the  application  of  logic  in  the 
two  great  religious  systems  of  Northern  Africa.  The 
Fatalism  of  the  Mohammedan  seems  to  me  only  Augus- 
tinianism  gone  to  seed ;  the  doctrine  of  predestination  and 
decrees,  carried  out  to  its  utmost  extreme,  so  as  to  include 
all  space  and  all  time,  and  all  that  passes  in  the  conscious 
life  of  men  upon  earth — all  the  thoughts  they  think  as 
well  as  the  acts  they  do,  all  virtues  and  all  crimes,  the 
wickedness  of  the  wicked  as  well  as  the  goodness  of 
the  good,  with  their  inevitable  issues  in  heaven  and 
hell. 

Extreme  Calvinists  (who,  in  following  Calvin,  are  really 
following  Augustine)  should  consider,  also,  how  far  Augus- 
tine carried  his  orthodoxy  ;  that  he  shut  up  the  grace  of 
God  within  very  narrow  bounds.  He  was  a  rigid  sacra- 
raentarian,  believing  devoutly  in  baptismal  regeneration, 
and  that  outside  of  the  Church  there  was  no  salvation ! 
True,  he  shrank  from  what  it  involved,  the  shutting  out 
from  all  hope  of  those  who  could  not  know  of  Christ,  and 
tried  to  soften  tbeir  fate  by  qualifying  the  "horrible 
decree  "  to  this  extent,  that  they  would  receive  a  milder 
punishment,  what  he  calls  levissima  damnatio!      But 


THE   LAST   GREAT  MAN   OF   AFRICA  197 

even  the  lightest  damnation  is  damnation  still;  and  his 
opponents  might  well  protest  that  it  was  not  easy  to 
reconcile  this  with  natural  justice,  or  with  the  teachings 
of  our  Lord  himself,  who,  in  the  division  of  mankind  into 
tiiose  on  the  right  and  the  left  of  the  Eternal  Judge, 
makes  no  mention  of  baptism  nor  of  faith,  but  only  of 
such  acts  of  humanity  as  feeding  the  hungry,  clothing 
the  naked,  and  visiting  the  sick  and  those  in  prison. 

But  for  those  who  could  not  escape  with  the  "  lighter 
damnation,"  because  they  could  know  and  did  know  of 
Christ,  there  was  another  alternative,  from  which  Augus- 
tine did  not  shrink.  He  believed  in  the  Church,  not  only 
as  the  depository  of  Divine  truth,  but  as  the  inheritor 
of  a  temporal  power  which  could  be,  and  should  be,  used 
to  repress  unbelief.  Repress  is  a  gentle  word ;  but  re- 
pression by  law  means  the  use  of  force,  of  pains  and 
penalties,  to  compel  submission. 

And.  yet  Augustine  was  not  "  a  hard  man,"  who  Avas 
insensible  to  the  sufferings  of  others.  The  intolerance 
came  not  from  his  heart,  but  from  the  inexorable  logic 
that  works  like  one  of  the  destructive  elements  of  nature, 
the  storm  or  the  earthquake,  breaking  down  and  crush- 
ing whatever  comes  in  its  way.  Having  accepted  the 
belief  that  outside  of  the  Church  there  was  no  salvation, 
it  w^as  a  natural  inference  that  any  means  might  be  used 
to  bring  men  into  the  only  place  of  safet^^  Had  not  the 
master  of  the  feast  bidden  his  servants  to  "  go  out  into  the 
highways  and  hedges,  and  compel  them  to  come  in  "  ? 
If  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven  suffereth  violence,  and  the 
violent  take  it  by  force,"  may  not  violence  and  force 
be  used  also  to  drive  men  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ? 
It  might  even  be  accounted  an  act  of  mercy  that  their 
bodies  should  be  burned  that  their  souls  miofht  be  saved. 


198  THE   BARBAKY   COAST 

And  thus  the  great  name  of  Augustine  was  used  for  a 
thousand  years  to  justify  all  atrocities  and  all  crimes — 
the  rack  and  the  stake  ;  the  Inquisition,  and  the  massacre 
of  St.  Bartholomew.  When  Calvin  burned  Servetus,  he 
was  only  carrying  out  the  spirit  of  his  great  master.  Tlie 
act  of  the  one  followed  the  teaching  of  the  other.  Both 
show  where  intolerance  and  persecution  begin  ;  and  how 
good  men  may  be  led  by  wrong  principles,  carried  out 
unflinchingl}'-,  to  do,  or  at  least  to  approve,  what,  if  done 
in  the  name  of  heaven,  is  in  truth  the  deed  of  hell. 

Yet  Augustine  was  one  of  the  wisest  and  best  of  men. 
But  he  fell  into  the  mistake  to  which  the  greatest  minds 
are  exposed  in  the  construction  of  systems,  whether  in 
science,  or  philosophy,  or  religion,  viz. :  that  they  think 
to  compress  the  universe  within  the  limitations  of  a 
theory,  and  thus  to  reduce  it  to  the  littleness  of  the  human 
understanding.  God  alone  can  compass  the  ocean  with 
a  span.  Any  system  is  of  necessity  one-sided,  as  man  is 
always  on  one  side  of  that  which  he  observes,  instead  of 
being  in  the  centre  of  a  vast  circumference.  A  theory 
made  in  advance  of  knowledge  is  merely  a  conjecture ;  but, 
even  as  such,  it  has  its  use,  as  an  astronomer  ma}'  project 
a  line  into  space.  But  if  he  takes  this  imaginary  line  as 
his  meridian,  he  may  go  astray  in  all  his  calculations  of 
the  heavenly  bodies.  So  Augustine  seems  to  have  taken 
the  Church  rather  than  Christ  for  his  meridian  line ;  and 
if,  in  consequence,  he  has  failed  to  construct  a  sj^stem 
which  is  for  all  eitne,  he  has  but  done  what  others  have 
done,  and  his  failure  is  for  our  warning  on  whom  the 
ends  of  the  world  are  come.  It  should  teach  us  extreme 
modesty  in  the  expression  of  opinions  on  subjects  that 
are  abstract  and  obscure  ;  that  we  should  not  speak  with 
an  air  of  assurance,  setting  ourselves  up  as  teachei*s ;, 


THE   LAST   GREAT  MAN   OF   AFRICA  199 

but,  rather,  as  those  who  are  but  pupils  in  the  school  of 
the  Great  Master,  even  Christ,  learning  little  by  little 
more  of  his  spirit,  that  we  may  follow  his  example.  I 
put  in  a  caveat  against  the  hero-worship  of  Augustine, 
by  pointing  out  what  seem  to  us,  at  this  distance  of  time, 
the  limitations  of  his  range  of  vision.  But  every  man 
must  be  measured  by  the  age  in  which  he  lives,  and  he 
who  is  wiser  than  his  generation  should  not  be  judged 
severely  if  he  does  not  anticipate  the  advances  of  those 
that  come  after  him.  The  age  of  liberty  of  thought  and 
of  toleration  of  differences  of  opinion  had  not  come,  and 
did  not  come  in  a  thousand  years.  But  with  full  allow- 
ance for  these  disadvantages,  and  for  infirmities  that 
are  common  to  men,  it  must  be  admitted  that  Augustine 
was  one  of  the  truly  great  men,  not  only  of  his  own  time, 
but  of  all  times  ;  great  in  genius,  great  in  character,  and 
great  in  his  boundless  influence  over  succeeding  genera- 
tions. 

The  impression  from  his  life  is  increased  by  his  death. 
As  we  follow  him  in  his  latter  years,  he  grows  greater 
and  greater  to  the  end.  In  the  midst  of  his  contro- 
versies there  came  a  pause  on  the  occurrence  of  an 
event  which  gave  a  shock  to  the  whole  world.  In  the 
year  410  Home  fell !  More  than  eleven  and  a  half  cen- 
turies had  passed  since  Romulus,  seven  hundred  and 
fifty-three  years  before  Christ,  had  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  City  of  the  Seven  Hills.  From  that  small  begin- 
ning had  grown  a  power  that,  in  a  few  centuries,  became 
the  master  of  the  world.  In  the  time  of  the  Caesars 
the  Roman  Empire  covered  all  of  civilized  Europe,  a 
large  part  of  Western  Asia,  and  all  Northern  Africa. 
Of  this  vast  dominion,  the  city  of  Rome  was  the  seat 
of  power,  into  which  were  gathered  the  spoils  of  three 


200  THE  BABBARY   COAS^ 

continents.  Yet  in  one  hour  was  so  great  riches  brought 
to  nought ! 

The  city  had  been  stormed  by  Alaric,  and  for  three 
days  the  barbarian  rioted  in  the  spoils  of  the  Capitol  and 
the  palace  of  the  Caesars.  It  was  as  if  hordes  of  fierce 
warriors  were  suddenly  landed  on  the  shores  of  England, 
and  began  their  work  of  destruction  by  burning  London. 
The  wreck  of  Rome  carried  terror  and  dismay  to  the 
other  side  of  the  Mediterranean  ;  for  what  had  been  in 
Italy  might  be — and  in  a  few  years  was — in  Africa. 
Then,  if  ever,  was  needed  faith  in  God ;  and  that  faith, 
so  terribly  shaken  by  these  events,  it  was  the  mission  of 
Augustine  to  restore.  Everything  in  his  mind  was  seen 
in  the  light  of  religion.  And  now,  after  the  first  shock 
was  over,  and  he  had  taken  in  the  terrible  reality  that 
Home  had  been,  like  Babylon,  brought  down  to  the  dust, 
he  turned,  with  the  faith  of  an  old  prophet,  to  another 
kingdom  which  could  not  be  destroyed.  The  Eternal 
City  had  belied  its  name,  for  it  was  in  ruins ;  but  there 
was  another  City,  whose  builder  and  maker  was  God  ! 

Thus  out  of  the  fall  of  Rome  grew  Augustine's  "  City 
of  God,"  on  which  he  wrought  for  many  years,  and 
which  remains  his  chief  monument,  if  it  be  not  the 
greatest  work  of  all  Christian  antiquity. 

The  opening  chaptei's  are  addressed  to  the  pagan 
world,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  worship  of 
the  gods  had  not  yet  disappeared  ;  there  were  many  who 
stiU  clung  to  th&-  old  idolatries,  all  the  more  because  of 
the  calamities  that  had  come  upon  them,  which  they 
ascribed  to  neglect  of  the  ancient  religion,  as  if  the  gods 
would  be  avenged  upon  those  who  had  ceased  to  be 
^heir  worshippers. 

Such   pretences   Augustine  swept  away  with   bitter 


THE  LAST  GKEAT  MAN  OF  AFRICA  201 

scorn,  showing  that  the  fall  of  Rome  was  not  owing  to 
the  neglect  of  the  temples,  but  to  the  people  themselves, 
their  vices  and  their  crimes ;  to  the  tyrants  who  had 
conquered  and  crushed  every  nation  in  turn,  leaving 
everywhere  the  traces  of  oppression  and  cruelty  ;  while 
the  spoils  brought  home  to  Rome  only  served  to  swell 
the  luxury  by  which  the  stern  and  simple  old  Romans  of 
the  better  days  of  the  Republic  had  become  so  enervated 
as  to  become  an  easy  prey  to  thp  barbarian.  The  state 
fell  because  it  was  rotten  within.  No  offerings  to 
heathen  gods,  no  burning  of  incense  on  heathen  altars, 
could  save  it  from  this  inward  decay. 

From  this  picture  of  inevitable  ruin,  Augustine  turns 
to  a  kingdom  that  shall  not  be  moved;  that  is  sym- 
bolized by  the  City  of  God.  The  title  is  taken  from 
the  vision  of  John  in  the  Apocalypse,  in  which  he  sees 
"  the  holy  city,  new  Jerusalem,  coming  down  from 
God  out  of  heaven."  That  city  would  stand  forever, 
because  it  had  its  foundation  in  truth.  Here  the  defender 
of  Christianity  had  the  fullest  opportunity  to  set  forth 
its  claims  as  against  all  the  religions  of  the  pagan 
world.  The  subject  was  one  that  suited  his  peculiar 
genius,  as  in  it  he  could  soar  into  the  highest  atmosphere 
of  pure  speculation,  in  which  he  was  at  home. 

It  may  be  an  idle  fancy,  but  I  could  not  help  thinking, 
as  I  rode  along  the  sea-shore  with  my  mind  full  of  Augus- 
tine, that  in  the  time  of  preparation  of  his  great  work 
he  must  have  come  here  for  help  in  his  studies  and  his 
meditations.  I  imagined  him  climbing  some  "high  and 
bending  head,"  as  Elijah  went  up  to  the  top  of  Carmel 
to  look  off  upon  the  Mediterranean.  It  is  the  hour  of  the 
going  down  of  the  sun,  and  his  figure  is  outlined  against 
the  western  sky.     To  a  mind  at  once  so  sensitive  and  so 


202  THE  BARBARY  COAST 

devout,  communion  with  nature  was  communion  with 
God.  The  great  and  wide  sea  was  the  best  earthly- 
symbol  of  the  infinitude  of  the  Creator.  The  waves 
that  came  roiUng  up  the  beach  were  the  generations  of 
men  that  were  cast  up  on  the  shores  of  time,  only  to 
recede  and  be  swallowed  up  and  lost.  The  dim  and 
distant  horizon  was  the  line  where  the  earth  touched 
heaven.  Thus  things  visible  were  but  shadows  of  the 
greater  things  that  were  invisible;  and  he  who  was  at 
once  poet,  philosopher,  and  saint  returned  to  his  great 
work  with  the  fires  of  genius  kindled  on  the  altars  of 
religion. 

It  is  said  that  Augustine  wrought  upon  the  City  of 
God  for  seventeen  years ;  not  continuously,  or  to  the 
neglect  of  other  cares  and  duties,  which  were  manifold 
and  incessant.  He  was  still  a  bishop,  to  whom  hundreds 
of  priests  looked  for  their  "  marching  orders  ;  "  he  was 
the  leader  in  the  councils  of  the  Church,  as  he  had  been 
in  all  the  controversies  of  the  day  ;  added  to  which  there 
was  no  statesman  of  his  time,  on  either  side  of  the 
Mediterranean,  who  had  so  large  a  correspondence  on 
public  affairs  with  men  in  high  stations — statesmen  and 
princes,  kings  and  emperors — who  heard  of  his  wisdom 
as  of  a  second  Solomon,  and  were  eager  to  receive 
instruction  from  his  lips.  But  with  these  innumerable 
diversions,  one  purpose  shone  like  a  star  above  him,  to 
build  the  City  of  God.  No  matter  hoAV  slow  was  his 
progress :  he  was  willing  to  toil  on,  year  after  year,  to 
complete  a  work  that  was  to  be  for  all  generations. 

Answering  to  its  title,  this  immortal  work  was  a  piece 
of  divine  architecture,  builded  and  framed  together  with 
the  pious  care  given  to  that  which  is  most  sacred.  It 
was  a  temple  which  could  not  be  reared  in  air,  but  must 


THE   LAST  GREAT  MAN   OF  AFRICA  203 

be  settled  upon  everlasting  foundations.  Here  Augus- 
tine found  a  place  for  his  mastery  of  all  ancient  learn- 
ing, of  the  philosophy  of  the  Greeks  and  the  wisdom  of 
the  Egyptians.  Testing  these  by  his  vigorous  under- 
standing, he  found  that  the  greater  part  had  to  be 
thrown  away.  But  he  found,  also,  that  which  was  solid 
and  strong,  just  and  true,  and  he  was  not  above  accept- 
ing truth  from  any  source.  These  fragments  of  Grecian 
marble  or  Egyptian  granite  were  used  by  him  as  the 
early  Christians  used  the  arches  and  columns  of  ancient 
temples  for  their  churches  and  cathedrals.  Even  if 
broken  and  shapeless,  they  might  be  hewn  into  founda- 
tion stones  for  the  walls  of  the  city,  which  were  to  be 
completed  and  crowned  by  the  sublime  truths  of  the 
Christian  faith,  all  together  growing  into  a  holy  temple 
in  the  Lord.  Thus  constructed  by  a  patient  toil,  not 
unlike  that  of  the  returned  captives  in  rebuilding  the 
temple  at  Jerusalem,  this  City  of  God  is  not  unworthy 
to  be  compared  with  that  which  John  saw  in  the 
Revelation,  whereof  it  is  written  :  "  The  city  lieth  four- 
square. And  the  foundations  were  garnished  with  all 
manner  of  precious  stones."  So  was  this  City,  adorned 
with  all  that  could  give  it  light  and  color,  brightness 
and  beauty.  Kor  would  it  be  thought  by  many  too 
much  to  carry  the  parallel  still  farther,  and  to  say  of 
that  which  was  reared  by  human  hands,  that  "  it  had  a 
wall  great  and  high ;  "  and  that  "  the  wall  had  twelve 
foundations,  and  that  in  them  were  the  names  of  the 
twelve  apostles  of  the  Lamb."  By  such  patient  devo- 
tion, carried  through  so  man}^  long  and  laborious  years, 
Augustine  builded  his  City  of  God,  from  the  founda- 
tion to  the  topstone,  leaving  it  to  be  the  wonder  of  all 
the  ajres. 


204  THE   BAEBARY   COAST 

The  end  of  his  work  found  the  saint  near  the  end  of 
hfe.  In  his  seventy-sixth  year  he  could  not  be  spared 
long  to  the  Church.  But  little  could  it  have  been 
thought  by  those  who  held  him  in  reverence  all  over  the 
Christian  world,  that  his  last  days  were  to  be  darkened 
by  overwhelming  sorrows  and  to  end  in  gloom. 

Ever  since  the  fall  of  Rome  the  world  had  been  in 
agitation  and  in  fear.  The  Vandals  had  overrun  Gaul 
and  Spain,  and  in  the  year  429  Genseric  crossed  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar,  at  the  head  of  fifty  thousand  men, 
and  began  to  lay  waste  ancient  Mauritania.  Moving 
eastward  along  the  Mediterranean,  it  was  but  a  few 
months  before  his  ships  were  in  the  harbor  of  Hippo. 
As  it  was  now  certain  that  the  city  would  be  subjected 
to  the  horrors  of  a  siege,  the  loving  priests  and  people 
came  to  their  bishop,  to  implore  him  to  escape  while  it 
was  possible,  and  take  refuge  in  a  place  of  safety.  For 
this  he  had  every  excuse.  He  was  not  a  soldier,  and 
could  not  mount  the  walls.  He  was  well  stricken  in 
years,  and  could  not  be  expected  to  endure  the  coming 
hardships  and  privations.  But  touched  as  he  was  by 
their  devotion,  he  would  not  yield  to  their  entreaties. 
"When  did  his  people  need  him  if  not  now  ?  Others 
might  go:  he  would  remain.  He  would  share  the 
sufferings  and  relieve  the  terror  of  the  affrighted  popu- 
lation. If  he  should  not  be  spared  long  to  inspire  them 
by  his  example,  he  could  at  least  show  them  how  to  die. 

And  so  the  siege  began,  and  month  by  month  came 
closer  and  pressed  harder,  till  the  hearts  of  the  bravest 
began  to  fail  them  for  fear.  But  in  the  time  of  the 
greatest  adversity,  they  had  but  to  enter  the  presence  of 
Augustine  to  be  calmed  by  his  serenity.  His  faith  was 
never  shaken.     As  he  looked  out  from  the  city  walls  at 


THE   LAST   GREAT   MAN   OF   AFRICA  205 

night,  he  saw  the  camp-fires  of  the  encircling  host ;  but 
above  the  carap-fires  were  the  stars;  above  earth  was 
heaven ;  and  there  was  One  who  could  make  even  the 
wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,  and  by  whom,  in  his  own 
time,  that  wrath  would  be  restrained. 

But  the  strength  of  the  strong  man  was  broken,  and 
he  did  not  live  to  see  the  end.  It  was  at  the  close  of 
that  fatal  summer  of  the  year  430,  on  the  twenty-eighth 
of  August — just  twenty  years  from  the  fall  of  Rome — 
that  "  the  last  great  man  of  Africa  "  ceased  to  breathe. 

Could  we  have  looked  into  that  death  chamber,  we 
should  have  seen  the  perfect  contrast  of  that  within  from 
that  without.  Without  was  war :  within  was  peace. 
The  siege  was  still  in  progress ;  the  barbarians  were 
thundering  at  the  gates ;  but  little  was  it  to  him  who 
was  passing  away  from  all  strifes  and  storms.  It  may 
have  been  that  some  beloved  priest  knelt  by  the  side  of 
the  dying,  and  whispered  in  his  ear  the  last  benediction 
of  the  Church  to  the  departing  soul :  "  Go  forth,  O 
Christian  soul,  from  this  world,  in  the  name  of  the 
Almighty  God  who  created  thee ;  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  who  redeemed  thee !  May  thy  dwelling  be  this 
day  in  peace ! "  Thus  upborne  by  blessings  and  by 
prayers,  the  great  spirit  lingered  not,  but  rose  above  the 
sound  of  war  and  all  the  sorrows  of  this  troubled  world, 
to  the  City  of  God,  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens. 


CHAPTER  XYIII 

GOOD-BY   TO    ALGERIA 

Afkioa  is  a  country  of  magnificent  distances.  Al- 
though I  had  already  travelled,  since  I  landed  at  Oran, 
five  hundred  miles  along  the  coast  (a  distance  as  great 
as  that  across  the  Mediterranean  from  Algiers  to  Mar- 
seilles), I  was  not  yet  out  of  Algeria.  In  leaving  Bone 
we  turned  our  backs  on  the  sea.  The  last  object  in  sight 
was  the  new  cathedral  in  honor  of  Saint  Augustine,  its 
white  walls  glistening  in  the  morning  sun.  At  Duvivier, 
near  Guelma,  we  struck  the  trunk  line  of  Algerian  rail- 
ways, and,  turning  to  the  east,  soon  found  ourselves 
among  the  mountains.  The  scene  was  familiar,  and  yet 
different,  for  I  had  been  over  the  same  route  six  years 
ago ;  but  then  it  was  in  midwinter,  and  the  tops  of  the 
mountains  were  white  with  snow.  It  was  now  near  the 
end  of  March,  and  the  last  snow-bank  had  melted  away, 
leaving  only  the  murmur  of  trickling  streams  to  make 
music  in  our  ears.  The  vegetation  had  the  soft  and 
tender  green  which  is  the  peculiar  beauty  of  the  spring- 
time, while  over  all  was  the  deep  blue  of  the  African 
sky. 

The  mountains  do  not  lie  in  one  long  chain  that  can 
be  crossed  in  a  single  ascent,  but  are  very  irregular  in 
formation,  being  tossed  up  on  every  side,  like  the  waves 
of  the  sea.  Of  course  it  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  carry 
a  railway  across  such  a  broken  countr}^  But  the  greater 
the  difficulty,  the  greater  the  engineering  skill.     In  as- 


GOOD-BY   TO    ALGERIA  207 

cending  the  steep  grades  the  tunnels  are  frequent,  and 
sometimes  it  seems  as  if  our  fiery  charger  were  playing 
hide  and  seek  as  he  plunges  into  a  long,  dark  cavern, 
where  for  a  few  minutes  he  twists  about  like  an  uneasy 
ghost,  till  he  has  made  a  complete  turn  in  the  bowels  of 
the  mountains ;  and  when  he  shows  his  head  again  at 
some  higher  point,  he  is  racing  madly  in  the  opposite 
direction.  It  gave  rae  a  feeling  of  bewilderment,  and 
yet  of  exhilaration,  to  be  thus  swung  round  and  round 
in  the  ver}-^  heart  of  these  African  mountains. 

At  last  we  reached  the  highest  summit,  and  began  to 
descend.  The  coming  down  was  as  grand  as  the  going 
up,  as  at  every  descent  we  were  brought  nearer  to  the 
green  valleys  and  the  soft  warm  face  of  dear  old  mother 
earth. 

In  these  few  hours  we  had  not  only  changed  our 
landscape,  but  changed  our  country ;  for  in  this  passage 
of  the  mountains  we  had  left  Algeria  behind,  and  come 
down  to  the  border  of  what  has  received  the  name  of 
Tunisia  from  its  capital,  Tunis,  as  Algeria  takes  its  name 
from  its  capital,  Algiers. 

And  now  for  a  come-down  from  all  this  greatness! 
As  if  man  could  not  be  left  to  behold  and  enjoy  the 
beauty  of  nature  undisturbed,  civilization  (!)  must  thrust 
in  its  device  to  vex  the  souls  of  nature's  worshippers ; 
and  what  do  we  find  here  in  the  wilderness  but  a  custom- 
house (!),  Avhich,  in  this  case,  has  a  special  ridiculousness 
from  the  fact  that  this  is  not  a  border  line  between  two 
countries,  but  between  two  provinces  of  one  country, 
Tunisia  being  in  reality,  if  not  in  form,  as  truly  French 
as  Algeria.  As  well  might  l^ew  Jersey  set  up  a  custom- 
house at  Jersey  City  for  all  who  cross  the  Xorth  River  ! 
However,  it  is  not  a  great  matter.     It  detains  us  but 


208  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

half  an  hour,  while  we  are  tumbled  out,  bag  and  baggage ; 
and  the  officials,  grave  and  solemn  in  aspect,  as  if  they 
were  doing  their  duty  to  their  countrj^,  go  through  the 
farce  of  looking  into  our  trunks.  But  as  they  observed 
French  courtesy,  we  were  not  ruffled  in  mind,  any  more 
than  despoiled  of  our  goods,  when  we  took  our  seats  in 
the  railway  carriage  and  resumed  our  journey. 

It  was  now  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  and  the  sun 
was  behind  us,  so  that  every  object  was  distinctly  in 
view.  Before  us  stretched  a  plain,  wide  and  well- 
watered  (for  a  river  runs  through  it),  which  reaches  all 
the  way  to  Tunis,  a  distance  of  a  hundred  miles.  No 
more  mountains  on  the  horizon,  but  only  a  low  chain  of 
hills,  just  enough  to  frame  in  the  picture.  The  broad  ex- 
panse is  thinly  peopled,  only  a  few  scattered  farmhouses 
breaking  the  outline,  with  here  and  there  an  Arab 
shepherd  in  his  white  burnous,  watching  his  flocks. 
But  the  scene  is  one  of  unbroken  peace.  As  the  after- 
noon sun  strikes  across  the  plain,  it  is  reflected  from 
many  a  pleasant  object — the  thatched  cottage,  Avith  the 
cattle  round  the  haystack,  chewing  the  cud  ;  while  in 
the  distance  one  hears  "  the  watch-dog's  honest  bark." 
All  this  gives  an  almost  American  aspect  to  the  scene, 
as  if  it  were  somewhere  in  the  newer  parts  of  our  own 
country.  And  yet  this  great  plain,  now  so  peaceful  and 
still,  has  been,  like  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  a  battle-field 
for  the  marchino;  and  contendinof  of  hostile  armies. 
Over  it  passed  the  elephants  of  Hamilcar  in  that  stupen- 
dous march  which  led  over  mountains  and  seas — across 
ISTorthern  Africa,  across  the  Mediterranean — which  his 
son  Hannibal  was  afterwards  to  carry  across  the  Pyr- 
enees and  the  Alps,  till  the  Carthaginians  were  at  the 
gates  of  Kome. 


GOOD-BY   TO   ALGERIA  209 

It  was  ten  o'clock  at  night  when  we  reached  Tunis. 
As  we  rolled  into  a  well-lighted  station,  and  were  driven 
throuirh  the  well-lighted  streets,  I  could  but  think  how 
civilization  takes  away  the  poetry  and  picturesqueness 
of  barbarism.  Here  am  I,  after  a  thousand  miles  of 
travel  in  Africa ;  and  yet  I  have  not  been  once  on  the 
back  of  a  camel,  even  though  I  have  been  on  the  desert, 
but  have  been  carried  over  the  mountains  as  smoothly 
as  I  could  be  over  the  Alleghanies  or  the  Sierra  Nevada. 
And  when  I  step  out  of  the  railway  carriage,  it  is  not  to 
find  shelter  in  an  Eastern  caravanserai,  to  herd  with  the 
beasts  of  the  stall,  but  to  take  lodgings  in  a  French 
hotel,  as  if  on  the  boulevards  of  Paris !  Truly  civiliza- 
tion makes  all  things  common ! 

Ah,  yes  !  Civilization  is  a  great  leveller,  even  in  the 
distribution  of  the  good  things  of  life  ;  it  makes  it  at 
once  more  comfortable  and  more  commonplace,  till 
existence  becomes  one  long  monotony.  There  is  a 
little  of  the  wild  nature  of  the  savage  in  us  all,  and  we 
sometimes  sigh,  "  Oh  for  a  touch  of  barbarism  to  relieve 
the  dulness  of  common  life !  How  much  more  pictur- 
esque it  would  be  ! "  The  Arab  on  his  steed,  flying  over 
the  desert,  spear  in  hand,  is  a  more  dashing  figure 
than  the  farmer  jogging  along  on  his  old  farm  horse. 
And  the  desert  itself,  when  the  setting  sun  floods  even 
the  barren  sands  with  a  golden  splendor,  is  very  capti- 
vating to  the  eye  and  to  the  imagination.  But  when  it 
comes  to  the  daily  round  of  common  life ;  to  the  ques- 
tions, "  What  shall  we  eat,  and  what  shall  we  drink, 
and  wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed,"  and  to  a  choice 
between  the  house  and  the  tent  as  a  place  to  dwell  in : 
I  must  confess  that,  after  a  long  day's  journey,  it  is  good 
to  wash  away  the  dust  of  travel  in  a  bath,  the  first  touch 
U 


210  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

of  which  subdues  my  raptures  over  the  poetry  of  a  state 
of  barbarism  ;  and  when  I  sink  into  a  soft  bed,  and  lay 
my  head  on  a  clean  white  pillow,  and  am  blissfully  con- 
scious of  sinking  into  a  state  of  profound  repose,  my  last 
murmur  is,  Blessed  be  civilization  ! 


1 


CHAPTER  XIX 

TUNIS AEAB    AND    FKENCH 

The  next  morning,  as  I  threw  open  the  shutters  and 
looked  out  of  the  window,  I  saw  that  I  was  again  in  a 
French  city, .as  I  had  been  at  Bone,  divided  hke  that  by  a 
broad,  open  space,  a  sort  of  esplanade,  with  driveways  on 
either  side,  which  there  goes  by  the  name  of  the  Cours 
Rationale,  and  here  of  the  Avenue  de  la  Marine. 

Tunis  is  not  so  favored  by  nature  in  its  position  as 
Algiers.  It  has  not  the  same  magnificent  foreground  of 
the  sea,  nor  the  same  background  of  the  hills.  It  lies 
on  a  level  plain,  with  no  features  which  strike  you  as  you 
approach  it,  and  give  it  the  dignity  of  a  great  capital. 
And  yet  it  is  larger  than  Algiers,  having  two  hundred 
thousand  inhabitants,  Avhile  Algiers  has  but  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand.  It  is  in  population  the  third  city  in 
Africa,  being  surpassed  only  by  Cairo  and  Alexandria. 

Although  Tunis  is  one  of  the  oldest  cities  in  North- 
ern Africa  (having  had  an  existence  long  before  the 
time  of  the  Romans  or  the  Carthaginians,  even  before 
the  founding  of  Utica  "  the  ancient "),  our  first  glimpse 
was  only  a  bit  of  Paris  transported  across  the  sea. 
But  the  old  African  city  is  not  far  away,  and  it  is  full 
of  treasures  not  to  be  found  in  any  European  capital. 
Come  with  me,  and  I  will  show  you  something  that 
will  open  your  eyes.  We  have  only  to  pass  through 
an  arch  at  the  end  of  the  avenue  to  be  transported  in 
a  moment  from  the  Occident  to  the  Orient,  as  we  enter 


212  THE   BARBABY   COAST 

the  bazaars,  which  extend  over  a  vast  space  that  is 
covered  in  hke  a  tent,  and  protected  from  rain  and  sun 
either  by  arches  of  stone,  or  by  mattings  hung  from 
roof  to  roof,  across  the  narrow  streets,  as  in  the  bazaars 
of  Cairo,  which  fill  the  whole,  not  with  "a  dim,  religious 
light,"  but  with  soft,  cool  shadows,  as  if  one  were  in  a 
grove,  a  "  boundless  contiguity  of  shade."  It  is  a  musty 
old  place,  and  yet  one  of  the  most  fascinating  in  the 
world  from  the  multitudinous  life  that  goes  on  within  it. 
Here  are  thousands  of  people  crowded  together,  who  are 
not  abroad  for  pleasure,  but  engaged  in  all  the  industries 
and  occupations  of  a  city.  The  streets,  or,  rather,  the 
passages  (for  they  are  hardly  wide  enough  to  be  called 
streets),  are  so  narrow  that  friends  are  almost  forced  to 
walk  side  by  side,  or  even  arm  in  arm,  while  even 
strangers  are  sometimes  brought  into  a  personal  contact 
that  is  too  close  to  be  agreeable.  This  calls  for  the 
utmost  good  nature,  as  all  have  to  make  way  for  one 
another,  and  if  they  are  wise  will  do  so,  not  only  with 
common  civility,  but  with  courtesy.  The  proudest 
Englishman  cannot  be  crowded  into  such  a  miscellaneous 
company  without,  for  the  moment  at  least,  laying  aside 
a  little  of  his  distant  and  haughty  air ;  if  not,  it  may  be 
squeezed  out  of  him  in  a  way  that  will  cause  at  once  a 
loss  of  temper  and  of  dignit3\ 

But  even  the  most  fastidious  stranger  cannot  but  catch 
somewhat  of  the  spirit  of  this  busy,  busthng  crowd,  com- 
posed of  men  of  all  colors  and  races,  and  of  all  occupa- 
tions, too  ;  for  this  is  not  merely  a  place  of  barter,  for  buy- 
ing and  selling,  but  of  manufacturing  also,  since  the  things 
that  are  sold  are  in  large  part  made  on  the  premises. 
Here  "  Alexander  the  coppersmith "  plies  his  trade,  and 
here  are  skilful  workmen  in  gold  and  silver.    In  one  stall 


STREET    IN   TUNIS 


TUNIS — ARAB  AND  FRENCH  213 

you  may  see  the  silk  reeled  off  the  cocoons ;  in  another  it 
is  dyed  with  the  delicate  colors  whose  production  (if  it 
be  not,  as  is  claimed  of  the  Tyrian  purple,  a  lost  art) 
seems  to  be  one  of  the  mysteries  of  the  East ;  and  next 
the  precious  threads  are  woven  with  the  old  hand-looms 
which  have  been  used  since  the  days  of  Solomon. 

Then  come  the  rugs  and  the  carpets,  made  from  the 
choicest  fleeces,  and  dyed  with  the  richest  colors ;  and  he 
must  have  more  than  Roman  virtue  who  can  resist  such 
a  temptation.  And  as  if  they  would  appeal  to  every 
sense,  so  as  to  intoxicate  with  every  sensuous  delight, 
there  is  a  bazaar  devoted  wholly  to  perfumer}'',  where 
one  may  regale  himself  with  the  otto  of  roses,  and  all 
the  sweet  odors  of  Araby  the  blest. 

But  perhaps  Young  America,  if  ambitious  of  military 
trappings,  may  prefer  to  be  the  owner  of  an  Arab  spear, 
or  of  one  of  those  long  matchlocks  that  every  sheik 
carries  at  his  saddle-bow.  How  would  you  like  a  Damas- 
cus blade  ?  If  you  are  an  expert  in  antique  workmanship 
you  may  pick  out  a  Turkish  cimeter  two  hundred  years 
old,  that  has  been  stained  with  blood  in  the  days  when 
the  Barbary  pirates  were  lords  of  the  Mediterranean, 
enriching  themselves  with  the  spoils  of  Europe,  and 
sparing  their  prisoners  that  they  might  have  the  proud 
satisfaction  of  being  served  by  Christian  slaves ! 

But  if  you  are  of  a  more  peaceable  turn  of  mind, 
you  may  be  content  with  a  high-peaked  Turkish  saddle, 
covered  with  red  morocco ;  'or  you  may  have  it  mounted 
with  cloth  of  gold,  so  that,  "  when  next  you  ride  abroad  " 
in  Central  Park,  you  may  be  •  the  admiration  of  all 
beholders. 

To  be  sure,  if  you  wish  to  buy  something  of  value, 
you  had  better  exercise  a  little  of  your  American  discre- 


214  THE   BARBARY   COAvST 

tion,  for  there  is  sometimes  a  perceptible  diflference 
between  the  price  first  asked  and  the  final  purchase. 
When  I  was  in  Constantinople,  a  rich  young  American 
was  making  the  tour  of  the  bazaars,  where  his  e3^e  was 
dazzled  by  a  suit  of  armor  which  he  would  bring  across 
the  sea,  and  hang  up  in  the  ancestral  hall.  But  his  ardor 
was  a  little  cooled  by  learning  that  the  price  was  thirteen 
hundred  dollars !  However,  he  did  not  lose  his  temper 
or  his  patience  ;  but,  by  the  buyer's  art  of  "  standing  off 
and  on  "  for  a  reasonable  time,  carried  off  the  prize  for 
three  hundred ! 

This  was  an  extreme  case,  but  it  illustrates  the  need 
of  caution.  And  still  there  is  such  a  thing  as  carr3nng 
caution  too  far,  by  which  we  lose  what  we  very  much 
desire  to  have.  When  we  were  in  Tangier,  my  friend 
Eichard  Harding  Davis  saw  in  a  shop  a  gun  that  took 
his  fancy.  The  price  was  twelve  dollars ;  he  offered 
eight.  The  next  day  a  fellow-traveller  brought  it  into 
the  hotel,  having  paid  fourteen,  and  said  he  would  not  take 
fifty  for  it,  at  which  Davis  was  much  chagrined  that  he 
had  lost  his  opportunity. 

In  all  this  it  is  a  good  rule  "  not  to  be  wise  overmuch." 
Do  not  be  in  such  a  mood  of  watchfulness  as  to  spoil  the 
enjoyment  of  your  first  experience,  but  take  the  bazaar 
for  just  what  it  is — a  curious  exhibition  of  Oriental  life, 
which  furnishes,  perhaps,  the  best  opportunity  to  study 
the  Oriental  character.  I  go  to  it,  not  to  make  a  sharp 
bargain,  but  to  observe  the  men  of  the  East  as  they 
differ  from  the  men  of  the  West.  There  is  something 
that  soothes  you  like  sweet  music  in  the  soft  Oriental 
manners,  in  which  you  may  be  conscious  that  you  are 
being  beguiled  by  a  subtle  flattery,  and  yet  you  rather 
enjoy  it.     I  sometimes  get  a  lesson  that  makes  me  feel 


TUNIS — ARAB  AND  FRENCH  215 

that  I  am  but  an  untamed  barbarian  compared  with 
these  men  of  long  beards,  white  turbans,  and  flowing 
robes.  AVhen  I  was  in  Cairo,  I  went  to  the  bazaar  in 
company  with  a  missionary  who  spoke  Arabic,  so  that 
he  could  give  me  the  flavor  of  Oriental  expressions. 
Seeing  a  rug  of  very  rich  colors,  I  asked  him  to  inquire 
the  price.  In  the  softest  voice  the  Arab  replied,  "  What 
is  that  between  thee  and  me  ? "  Could  anything  be  more 
delicately  expressed  ?  It  put  us  at  once  into  new  rela- 
tions— not  that  of  buyer  and  seller,  but  of  friend  to 
friend — relations  of  confidence,  so  that  the  matter  of 
price  was  one  of  indifference.  I  was  unto  him  as  one 
of  his  own  tribe,  of  whom  he  would  scorn  to  take  advan- 
tage. IS^ot  to  be  outdone  in  courtesy,  I  could  not  let 
the  generous  owner  throw  this  treasure  at  my  feet,  and 
when  my  friend  drew  from  him  the  consideration  for 
"which  he  would  part  with  it,  as  it  seemed  rather  large, 
I  ventured  modestly,  and  with  downcast  eyes,  to  offer 
something  less,  which  he  did  not  resent  as  a  desire  to 
depreciate  what  he  valued  so  highly  (he  was  too  well 
bred  for  that) ;  but  he  replied,  "  more  in  pity  than  in 
anger,"  that  to  accept  it  "  would  be  a  shame  to  his  beard," 
at  which  I  felt  that  I  had  almost  offered  an  affront  to 
his  dignity. 

Of  course  this  will  be  looked  upon  as  a  fine  bit  of 
comedy ;  but  it  is  that  kind  of  comedy  which  is  all  the 
time  being  enacted  before  us  in  real  life,  and  in  which 
the  Orientals  are  greater  adepts  than  we,  and  play  their 
parts  with  more  exquisite  grace.  All  their  little  arts, 
such  as  the  offering  of  a  seat  under  the  tent,  or  on  the 
divan,  and  the  bringing  of  coffee  and  pipes,  are  a  part 
of  the  play,  which  cannot  fail  to  amuse  one  whose  eye 
is  not  too  critical.     In  this  mood  I  enjoy  nothing  more 


216  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

than  a  morning  in  the  bazaars,  where,  as  I  never  make 
large  purchases,  I  do  not  need  to  be  constantly  on  ray 
guard,  Nor  would  I  be  ;  for  a  habit  of  suspicion  is  more 
troublesome  to  him  who  has  it  than  to  anybody  else.  If 
I  cannot  quite  say  With  Hudibras  : 

"No  doubt  the  pleasure  is  as  great 
Of  being  cheated  as  to  cheat, " 

yet  I  had  rather  be  cheated  moderately  than  to  be 
always  on  the  watch.  Let  them  play  their  parts :  I  will 
play  mine. 

Fascinated  by  this  glittering  panorama  I  wandered  on 
and  on  for  hours,  whithersoever  my  guide  would  lead 
me ;  for  indeed  I  could  not  have  found  my  way  alone, 
since  the  narrow  passages  wind  round  and  round,  as  in 
a  labyrinth,  so  that,  if  left  to  myself,  I  should  have  been 
as  helplessly  lost  as  if  I  had  been  in  the  Catacombs  of 
Rome.  But  the  visit  is  worth  a  journey  to  Tunis,  if  it 
had  nothing  else  to  show ;  and  I  may  add,  for  the  satis- 
faction of  those  who  are  not  able  to  extend  their  travels 
to  the  East,  that  they  will  find  here  an  Oriental  bazaar, 
if  not  as  large,  yet  as  varied  and  complete,  as  if  they 
made  the  journey  to  Cairo  or  Damascus  or  Constanti- 
nople. 

When  I  came  out  of  this  bewildering  maze,  and  re- 
turned to  the  Grand  Hotel,  I  felt  that  I  had  made  a 
voyage  to  Africa  and  back  again,  for  I  was  once  more 
in  Europe.  Everything  was  French — the  houses  and  the 
people,  the  shops  and  the  cafes.  And  when  I  saw  French 
soldiers  in  the  streets,  and  red-legged  zouaves  and 
Turcos  pacing  up  and  down  before  the  palace  of  the 
Resident  and  the  public  offices,  it  seemed  as  if  the 
French  were  here  to  stay ;  and  an  American,  with  true 


TUNIS — ABAB   AND  FRENCH  217 

national  impertinence,  could  hardly  help  asking  how 
they  came  here.  By  what  whirligig  of  fortune  are  the 
French  now  masters  of  this  country  ?  How  came  they 
over  the  border,  and  what  business  had  they  here  ?  All 
this  you  may  understand  better  if  you  look  at  the  map, 
and  see  where  Tunisia  is.  You  see  that  it  lies  close  along- 
side of  Algeria,  of  which  the  French  have  been  in  pos- 
session since  1830.  As  they  strengthened  themselves 
alono:  the  coast  and  in  the  interior,  buildino:  towns  and 
cities,  how  natural  that  they  should  look  over  the  border 
at  the  neighboring  territory,  as  Ahab  looked  at  Naboth's 
vineyard  !  What  an  addition  it  would  be  if  they  could 
only  get  hold  of  it !  That  would  carry  the  French  pos- 
sessions eastward,  clear  to  the  sea,  and  round  out  their 
African  empire. 

But,  unfortunately,  the  country  did  not  belong  to 
France  any  more  than  it  belonged  to  the  United  States. 
It  belonged  to  Turkey,  as  the  Sultan  claimed  every 
other  piece  of  territory  lying  along  the  Mediterranean, 
except  Morocco,  which  has  a  Sultan  of  its  own.  And 
his  authority  was  acknowledged  by  Tunis,  whose  Beys 
ruled  in  the  name  of  the  Grand  Caliph,  who  sat  in  state 
on  the  Bosphorus. 

This  made  it  awkward  for  France  to  seize  a  country 
that  belonged  to  a  power  with  which  it  was  not  only  at 
peace,  but  in  the  most  friendly  relations.  The  thing 
must  be  done  in  some  roundabout  way,  so  as  to  secure 
the  result,  while  professing  to  act  only  in  the  common 
interest  of  both  countries.  All  that  was  Avanted  was  a 
pretext,  and  that  was  easily  found.  In  the  mountains 
between  Tunis  and  Algeria  was  a  tribe  that  were  said  to 
be  lawless  and  troublesome.  Yery  likely  they  were. 
Living  as  they  did  on  the  frontier,  the  temptation  was 


218  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

great  to  make  incursions  into  Algeria,  forays  that  were 
overlooked  by  the  French  until  the  moment  when  they 
could  be  turned  to  good  account.  But  such  border 
rufiBans  are  not  peculiar  to  Africa.  The  Highlanders 
who  made  descents  upon  the  Lowlands  for  the  purpose 
of  cattle-lifting,  were  very  much  the  same  sort  of  free- 
booters as  are  the  horse  thieves  who  infest  the  ranches 
of  Texas  and  Arizona.  But  we  do  not  consider  our- 
selves responsible  for  these  marauder.  No  more  was 
Tunis  for  these  brigands.  But  no  matter,  it  was  suffi- 
cient for  an  excuse;  and  suddenly  French  troops  were 
marched  into  these  African  highlands,  and,  when  the 
moment  of  action  was  come,  were  moved  on  Tunis  itself, 
where  they  presented  their  compliments  to  the  Bey,  and 
gave  him  just  two  hours  to  sign  a  treaty  placing  himself 
under  the  protection  of  France!  ISTot  to  wound  his  dig- 
nity, this  was  under  the  phrase  of  "  constituting  the 
representative  of  France  the  medium  of  communication 
with  other  powers ! "  That  was  a  delicate  way  of  put- 
ting it.  It  saved  the  pride  of  the  Bey,  and  softened  the 
affront  to  Turkey.  Not  a  word  was  said  of  annexing  the 
country  !  Oh,  no !  but  only  that  it  should  be  governed 
through  the  representatives  of  another  country.  Some 
may  speak  of  this  disrespectfully,  as  "whipping  the 
Black  Gentleman  round  the  stump ; "  that  is,  doing  indi- 
rectly what  they  did  not  dare  to  do  directly — keeping 
up  professions  and  appearances,  while  dividing  the  spoil. 
Of  course,  those  who  profited  by  this  piece  of  legerdemain, 
thought  it  a  wonderful  stroke  of  policy,  while  the  other 
powers  that  gained  nothing  by  the  change  lifted  up 
their  hands  in  holy  horror  at  the  base  treachery ! 

Well,  it  must  be  confessed  that  it  was  a  piece  of  sharp 
practice.     As  to  any  right  in  the  case,  France  had  just 


TUNIS— ARAB   AND   FRENCH  219 

as  much  right  to  force  this  treaty  upon  the  Bey  as  she 
liad  to  land  an  army  in  Ireland,  to  stir  up  insurrection. 

And  yet  England  could  say  nothing,  for  the  obvious 
reason  that  France  would  reply  that  she  had  done  no 
more  in  Africa  than  England  herself  had  done  over  and 
over  again  in  India.  Indeed,  we  have  not  been  so  very 
scrupulous  in  respecting  the  rights  of  the  Indians  to  their 
lands.     Perhaps  we  had  better  drop  the  subject. 

In  case  of  revolution  we  are  apt  to  think  more  of  the 
ruler  than  of  his  people,  and  to  spend  our  sympathies  on 
the  one  man  who  is  turned  out  of  his  place  rather  than 
on  his  subjects,  who  may  be  set  free  from  an  odious 
tyranny.  It  did  seem  a  little  hard  on  the  Bey  of  Tunis 
that  he  should  be  sent  adrift  on  two  hours'  notice.  But 
he  was  not  quite  turned  out  of  house  and  home,  but 
simply  retired  on  a  royal  pension,  with  a  palace  to  live 
in.  I  have  just  been  out  to  see  it,  and  after  spending 
an  hour  in  walking  through  the  apartments,  I  could  not 
but  think  that  with  his  generous  allowance  from  the 
French  Government,  with  French  servants  to  wait  on 
him,  and  French  cooks  to  supply  his  table,  the  poor  Bey 
might  still  be  able  to  support  existence.  Further  yet, 
with  French  soldiers  to  keep  guard  around  his  palace,  and 
French  officers  to  form  his  military  household,  he  could 
still  keep  up  a  miniature  court ;  and  if  he  could  be  no 
longer  a  grand  bashaw,  could  still  be  a  grand  puppet. 

And  so  I  am  not  going  to  waste  any  tears  on  the  Bey 
of  Tunis,  for  the  less  there  is  of  such  government  in  the 
world  the  better.  Macaulay  has  laid  it  down  as  -an 
axiom,  based  on  all  his  knowledge  of  history,  that  the 
best  Moslem  government  is  Avorse  than  the  worst  Chris- 
tian government.  When  I  was  here  six  years  ago,  a 
French  gentleman  drove  me  out  to  the  Bardo,  a  palace 


220  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

of  the  Bey  two  or  three  miles  from  the  city,  which  was 
reseryed  for  his  official  duties.  Here  he  came  once  a 
week  to  sit  in  the  Hall  of  Justice  (or  Injustice),  to  give 
judgment  in  cases  between  his  own  people,  in  which  he 
was  both  judge  and  jury,  and  could  render  a  decision 
which  was  absolute  and  final.  He  had  the  power  of  life 
and  death  over  his  subjects.  If  for  any  cause,  or  for  no 
cause  at  all,  but  merely  to  extort  money,  or  to  gratify 
personal  hatred,  he  saw  fit  to  pronounce  sentence  of 
death,  no  man  could  ask  the  reason  why.  He  need  not 
take  counsel  of  anj'^body ;  he  need  not  even  open  his  lips ; 
he  had  only  to  wave  his  hand,  and  the  miserable  wretch 
was  at  once  seized  by  the  executioners.  The  sentence 
was  carried  out  on  the  spot,  in  a  court  of  the  palace, 
where  the  condemned  was  thrown  on  the  pavement, 
and  strangled  with  the  bowstring,  or  small  cord,  which 
was  twisted  round  his  neck  till  life  was  extinct.  This 
judgment  was  executed  under  the  eye  of  the  Bey,  who, 
it  was  said,  sometimes  left  the  bench,  and  came  to  the 
window  to  witness  the  dying  agonies  of  the  wretched 
victim.  This  was  Oriental  justice!  I  think  my  readers 
will  agree,  that,  if  there  is  to  be  any  progress  in  the 
worldj  such  a  government  as  that  must  go. 

But  if  the  Bey  of  Tunis  had  to  go,  there  was  a 
question  who  should  succeed  him.  France  was  not  the 
only  power  that  had  cast  longing  eyes  on  Tunis.  Italy 
considered  herself  the  natural  heir  to  the  property,  not 
because  she  was  next  of  kin,  but  nearest  in  position,  with 
the  great  island  of  Sicily  \y\r\g  midway  between  Europe 
and  Africa,  as  a  sort  of  bridge  to  connect  the  two  por- 
tions of  what  might  be  one  great  empire.  Thousands  of 
Italians  had  come  over  to  make  their  home  on  this  side 
of  the  Mediterranean,  so  that  Tunis  had  already  a  consid- 


TUNIS— ARAB   AND   FRENCH  221 

erable  Italian  population,  all  of  whom  looked  forward  to 
the  time  when,  in  the  natural  course  of  events,  the  native 
government  should  break  down,  and  the  country  fall  to 
them  without  any  act  of  violence  or  usurpation.  The 
government  at  Rome  was  only  observing  the  proprieties 
in  waiting  for  the  time  to  come,  when  the  French  stepped 
in,  and,  by  a  sudden  eoup^  carried  off  the  prize,  leaving  the 
Italians  in  the  lurch.  As  a  Frenchman  in  Tunis  said  to 
me,  with  evident  exultation,  "  lis  sont  arrives  trop  tard  !  " 

Too  late,  indeed !  Too  late  to  gain  the  coveted  pos- 
session, but  not  too  late  for  the  consequences  both  to 
France  and  Italy,  whose  relations  to  each  other  it  severed 
at  once.  Up  to  this  time  no  powers  on  the  continent  had 
been  more  closely  united.  The  two  countries  touched 
each  other.  The  two  peoples  were  of  the  same  Latin 
race.  Kindred  in  origin,  in  blood,  in  language,  and  in 
religion,  they  seemed  formed  by  nature  and  by  position 
to  be  allies  and  friends.  They  were  also  alike  in  their 
political  sympathies,  both  being  among  the  liberal  powers 
of  Europe,  as  against  the  absolutism  of  Germany,  Aus- 
tria, and  Russia.  Hence  it  seemed,  that,  whatever  oc- 
curred in  European  politics  to  divide  other  nations, 
these  two  would  stand  by  each  other.  France,  too, 
felt  that  she  had  a  claim  upon  Italy  for  the  support  she 
gave  to  Sardinia  in  the  war  with  Austria  in  1859,  w^iich 
gained  Lombardy,  to  which,  seven  years  later,  France 
added  the  free  gift  of  Yenice.  That  Italy  should  not 
now  acquiesce  in  the  good  fortune  of  her  former  bene- 
factor seemed  to  the  French  base  ingratitude. 

But  nations,  like  individuals,  are  more  apt  to  remember 
injuries  than  favors.  No  explanations  or  apologies  can 
soothe  a  bitter  disappointment.  Italy  felt  that  she  had 
been  outwitted  by  France,  which  had  taken  from  her  the 


222  THE  BARBAKY   COAST 

prize  on  which  she  had  set  her  heart,  and  compelled  her 
(as  she  was  still  ambitious  of  a  hold  in  Africa)  to  seek 
it  far  away,  on  the  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  in  Massowah, 
one  of  the  hottest  and  most  unhealthy  places  in  the 
world. 

Nor  did  the  irritation  of  Italy  end  here.  It  led  her  to 
cut  loose  from  the  power  nearest  to  her,  and  to  join  her 
fortunes  with  Germany  and  Austria,  as  against  France 
and  Russia ;  so  that,  should  we  live  to  see  the  outbreak 
of  that  general  war  for  which  all  Europe  is  looking  and 
preparing,  we  may  see  Italy  take  the  field  against  the 
old  ally  to  which  she  owes  her  very  existence. 

But  I  am  not  a  prophet  of  evil,  and  will  not  mutter 
forebodings  of  wars  that  may  never  come.  "What  is  of 
more  interest  to  me,  now  that  I  am  in  Tunis,  and  find 
that  the  thing  is  done,  and  cannot  be  undone,  is  whether 
this  change  of  rulers  was  a  good  thing.  Was  it  good 
for  Tunis  ?  Was  it  good  for  France  ?  Or  was  it  good 
for  neither?  Was  it  a  cheat  all  round?  Or  was  it  a 
good  all  round  ?  I  claim  that  it  was ;  that  it  was  a  bar- 
gain which  ^as  for  the  profit  of  all  concerned. 

First  of  all,  Was  the  country  worth  taking?  Is  it  not 
for  the  greater  part  barren  sea-coast,  or  still  more  barren 
desert?  So  high  an  authority  as  Sir  Lambert  Playfair 
thinks  it  very  inferior  to  Algeria.  There  are  fewer  hills 
and  more  plains.  "  The  mountain  ranges  nowhere  attain 
so  great  an  elevation ;  the  country  is  less  wooded ;  the 
rainfall  is  less ;  and  a  great  part  of  the  land  is,  if  not  ab- 
solutely sterile,  capable  only  of  yielding  abundant  har- 
vests when  stimulated  to  fertility  by  more  than  the  usual 
amount  of  rain."  And  yet  this  very  country  was  once 
highly  cultivated,  and  sustained  a  dense  population.  He 
says :  "  It  is  extremely  difficult  to  understand  how  the 


TUNIS— ARAB   AND   FRENCH  223 

Sahel  [the  region  of  wide,  dreary  plains]  could  have  sup- 
ported the  immense  population  which  it  must  have  con- 
tained during  the  Roman  period.  It  is  covered  in  every 
direction  by  the  ruins,  not  only  of  great  cities,  but  of  iso- 
lated posts  and  agricultural  establishments.  In  many 
parts  one  cannot  ride  a  mile  in  a  day's  journey  without 
encountering  the  ruins  of  some  solidly  built  edifice." 

But  what  does  France  give  to  the  country  in  exchange 
for  what  she  gets?  First  of  all,  she  gives  law  and 
order,  the  first  condition  of  civilization.  "Wherever  she 
lays  her  strong  hand,  savagery  disappears.  Of  this  Sir 
Lambert  Playfair  gives  an  illustration  in  one  of  the 
wildest  and  most  savage  parts  of  the  country,  the  moun- 
tainous region  occupied  by  the  Khomair,  the  very  tribe 
whose  lawlessness  led  to  the  interference  of  the  French. 
He  tells  us  how,  with  one  companion,  he  passed  through 
that  country  in  1876,  which  he  believed  that  no  other 
European  traveller  had  ever  been  permitted  to  do.  He 
again  traversed  it  in  April,  1884,  by  excellent  roads.  Not 
an  armed  Khomiri  was  to  be  seen.  The  men  were  all 
engaged  in  ploughing  the  land  for  the  next  season's 
crops,  while  the  women  were  clearing  the  weeds  from 
among  the  growing  corn ;  all  seemed  to  have  a  friendly 
word  or  salutation  for  him,  and  he  saw  none  of  the  black 
looks  and  scowls  which  he  had  noticed  on  his  former 
journey. 

All  this  is  in  the  way  of  civilization.  Where  roads  are 
opened  through  a  country,  and  it  is  policed  by  troops 
which  enforce  law  with  military  rigidness,  there  is  every 
inducement  to  that  peaceful  industry  which  is  the  first 
condition  of  civilized  society. 

Next  to  the  railroads  and  other  roads  which  bind 
all  parts  of  the  country  together,  the  greatest  piece  of 


224  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

engineering  is  in  Tunis  itself.  A  glance  at  the  map  will 
show  that  it  does  not  lie  on  the  sea,  but  at  the  head  of  a 
long,  shallow  bay,  hardly  more  than  a  lagoon,  which  was 
quite  insufficient  for  vessels  to  approach  the  city.  They 
could  come  no  nearer  than  the  Goletta,  six  miles  away, 
so  that  all  articles  of  commerce  had  to  be  transported 
this  distance  to  be  shipped.  Thus  all  trade  had  to  be 
carried  on  at  arm's  length,  at  great  expense  of  labor  and 
money.  To  remedy  this,  and  to  make  Tunis  in  reality, 
as  well  as  in  name,  a  port,  the  French  undertook  the 
building  of  a  ship  canal  seven  and  a  half  miles  long. 
It  was  a  prodigious  undertaking,  but  great  dredging 
machines  were  anchored  up  and  down  the  bay,  and  the 
work  was  pushed  with  all  the  energy  and  capital  of 
France,  with  the  assurance  that  it  might  be  opened  in 
1894  It  was  completed  a  year  in  advance  of  the  time, 
and  in  Ma}^  1893,  was  formally  opened,  so  that  ships 
drawing  twenty  feet  of  water,  instead  of  being  obliged 
to  unload  at  the  Goletta,  can  steam  up  to  the  cit}'^,  and 
discharge  their  cargoes  on  the  Avharves.  This  stupen- 
dous work  alone,  if  there  were  nothing  else,  is  a  sufficient 
answer  to  the  question  whether  the  French  occupation 
has  been  a  benefit  to  Tunis. 

So  much  in  the  way  of  commerce.  But  France  is  not 
a  country  that  has  an  eye  only  to  profit,  but  still  more 
to  power  and  glory.  Xo  one  who  reads  the  history  of 
our  own  times  can  fail  to  see  that,  in  assuming  a  pro- 
tectorate over  Tunis,  she  looked  to  the  increase  of  her 
naval  and  military  power.  Napoleon  used  to  speak  of 
the  Mediterranean  as  a  French  lake,  an  assumption  that 
might  have  been  thrown  back  as  a  bitter  taunt  after  the 
battles  of  the  Nile  and  Trafalgar,  when  his  fleets  were 
destroyed,  and  a  ship  hardly  dared  to  fly  the  French 


TUNIS — ARAB   AND   FRENCH  225 

flag  from  one  end  of  the  great  sea  to  the  other.  Then 
England  was  mistress  of  the  seas,  and  might  have  claimed 
the  Mediterranean  as  her  own.  Especially  with  the  for- 
tresses of  Gibraltar  and  Malta,  to  which  has  been  added 
within  a  few  years  the  occupation  of  Cyprus  and  Egypt, 
with  control  of  the  Suez  Canal,  she  has  a  chain  of  stra- 
tegic positions  from  one  end  of  the  Mediterranean  to  the 
other.  How  to  neutralize  this  tremendous  superiority, 
or  to  obtain  at  least  some  counterpoise  to  it,  has  long 
been  the  problem  of  France,  which  she  seems  at  last  to 
have  solved.  Neither  Tunis  nor  Carthage  offers  any 
special  advantage  of  position  for  attack  or  defence.  But 
if  the  reader  will  turn  to  the  map,  he  may  find  another 
point,  not  far  away,  which  combines  all  the  advantages 
that  are  wanting  here.  Less  than  forty  miles  distant,  on 
the  coast,  is  Bizerta,  which  seems  to  have  been  formed 
by  nature,  as  much  as  Gibraltar  itself,  to  be  one  of  the 
greatest  fortresses  in  the  world.  It  is  close  to  Cape 
Blanco,  the  most  northern  point  of  Africa,  and  has 
the  supreme  advantage  of  being  directly  in  the  line  of 
all  the  commerce  up  and  down  the  Mediterranean.  Not 
a  sail  can  pass  in  either  direction  without  being  in  full 
view,  unless  it  should  keep  away  below  the  horizon  to 
avoid  being  seen,  or  take  the  long  sweep  round  the  island 
of  Sicily,  and  through  the  Straits  of  Messina. 

But  better  still,  Bizerta  has  advantages  for  defence 
not  surpassed  by  Gibraltar  itself  ;  not  in  the  outer  port, 
but  in  a  lake  that  lies  behind  it,  separated  only  by  a 
ridge  of  land,  through  which^the  French  are  now  cutting 
a  canal  that  will  be  completed  next  year,  by  which,  says 
Sir  Lambert  Playfair,  "  the  lake  will  be  converted  into 
a  perfectly  landlocked  harbor,  containing  fifty  square 
miles  of  anchorage  for  the  largest  vessels  afloat."  Here 
15 


226 


THE  BARBARY   COAST 


the  fleets  of  France  could  ride  in  safety,  and  defy  all  the 
navies  of  the  world,  at  the  same  time  being  ready  to 
sally  out  and  attack  any  hostile  squadron  that  should 
come  within  their  reach. 

The  bearing  of  all  this  has  not  escaped  the  notice  of 
the  military  and  naval  authorities  of  other  countries. 
Sir  Charles  Wilson,  one  of  the  first  engineers  in  the  Eng- 
lish army,  writes  me,  in  answer  to  inquiries : 

"  Bizerta  is  admirably  suited  for  a  great  military  and 
naval  post  and  arsenal ;  and  the  only  question  is,  whether 
the  French  will  so  make  it.  It  is  believed  that  when  the 
French  occupied  Tunis,  there  was  a  tacit,  if  not  written, 
understanding  that  they  would  not  fortify  Bizerta  and 
turn  it  into  a  first-class  fortress  and  arsenal.  I  believe 
that  thus  far  they  have  only  thrown  up  a  few  field- 
works,  but  there  is  always  the  fear  that  the  understand- 
ing will  not  be  kept.  The  Italians  are  peculiarly  sensitive 
to  this  question  of  fortifying  Bizerta,  and  a  year  rarely 
passes  without  a  debate  on  the  subject  in  the  Italian  par- 
liament, or  some  scare  being  raised  in  the  European  press. 
Bizerta  is  rarely  visited  by  travellers.  I  was  there  many 
years  ago,  before  the  French  occupation,  and  was  much 
struck  by  its  capabilities. 

"  The  Mediterranean  question,  from  a  naval  and  mili- 
tary point  of  view,  is  a  most  interesting  one,  and  has 
been  much  discussed  of  late  years.  Yery  great  differ- 
ences exist  with  regard  to  the  present  value  of  the  great 
fortresses,  and  as  to  the  effect  of  war  upon  the  Mediter- 
ranean transit  trade.  The  only  clear  point  is,  that  the 
power  or  powers  that  command  the  sea  will  practically 
command  the  Mediterranean,  and  that  this  will  be  settled 
by  a  great  naval  battle.  The  fortresses  will  only  play  a 
minor  part  in  the  war ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  a  great 


TUNIS — AEAB  AND   FRENCH  227 

naval  arsenal  and  fortress  at  Bizerta  would  be  an  unpleas- 
ant addition  to  the  Mediterranean  from  a  British  or  Ital- 
ian point  of  view." 

But  enough  of  war,  for  just  now  my  thoughts  are 
turned  on  peace  by  some  tender  and  sad  memories. 
When  I  was  here  six  years  since,  I  was  most  kindly 
received  by  the  Kesident  of  Tunis,  to  whom  I  brought  a 
letter,  who  made  me  at  once  at  home,  and,  after  we  had 
discussed  politics,  would  have  me  come  the  next  day  to 
meet  his  family.  As  we  sat  round  the  table  the  con- 
versation took  a  wide  range,  and  still  more  when  we 
left  the  gentlemen  to  their  cigars,  and  I  accompanied  his 
wife  and  sister  into  the  garden,  in  the  rear  of  the  palace, 
where  the  paths  led  under  the  shade  of  some  majestic 
trees,  that  looked  as  if  a  hundred  years  old.  "We  talked 
of  Africa  and  of  America,  which  seemed  to  these  French 
ladies  very  far  away,  while  Africa  was  close  to  Europe. 
I  invited  them  to  visit  our  country  and  see  the  "  West- 
ern barbarians,"  which  amused  them  very  much.  All 
this  comes  to  me  now  with  a  feeling  of  sadness,  as  I 
learn  that  that  happy  circle  has  been  broken.  The  Eesi- 
dent,  who  was  then  in  the  full  vigor  of  manhood,  is  in  his 
grave,  and  his  family  have  returned  to  France.  It  was 
a  shock  to  me  to  receive  the  news  on  the  very  spot  where 
they  had  given  me  such  a  kindly  welcome,  and  I  walked 
round  the  square  and  looked  up  at  the  old  trees,  under 
which  we  had  walked  and  talked  so  gayly  on  that  happy 
day,  with  grateful  memories. 

With  these  personal  recollections  there  comes  another 
of  the  honored  dead.  More  than  forty  years  ago  there 
was  an  American  Consul  in  Tunis,  who  died  here  April 
1,  1852.  Though  his  last  days  were  spent  far  from  his 
country,  he  sighed  for  the  land  of  his  birth,  for  which  he 


228 


THE   BARBARY   COAST 


had  poured  forth  his  love  in  lines  that  are  perhaps  as 
familiar  as  any  in  the  language : 

"  'Mid  pleasures  and  palaces,  where'er  I  may  roam, 
Be  it  ever  so  humble,  there's  no  place  like  home." 

Here  he  was  buried  on  a  foreign  shore ;  but  after  he 
had  been  in  his  grave  over  thirty  years,  his  remains  were 
disinterred  and  taken  to  America,  and  laid  in  the  earth 
at  Georgetown,  near  "Washington,  so  that  at  last  he 
sleeps  in  the  land  that  he  loved  so  well.  But  though  he 
is  no  more,  his  words  still  live ;  and  to-night,  as  I  saunter 
through  these  crowded  streets,  I  find  relief  from  loneli- 
nesss  in  thinking  of  those  who  are  far  away,  and  whis- 
pering to  myself, 

"  Home  !  sweet  home  !  There's  no  place  like  home  !  " 


CHAPTER  XX 


TIIE   FALL    OF   CARTHAGE 


"When  Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  took  the  contract  to  fur- 
nish the  materials  for  building  the  Temple  of  Solomon, 
he  showed  not  only  his  friendship  for  his  royal  neigh- 
bor, but  the  superior  capacity  of  his  own  people.  "  For 
thou  knowest,"  said  Solomon,  "  that  there  is  not  among 
us  any  that  can  skill  to  hew  timber  like  unto  the  Sido- 
nians"  (1  Kings  v.  6).  And  so  he  is  obliged  to  ask  the 
aid  of  his  brother  king,  whom  he  requests  to  command 
his  skilled  ■workmen  to  "  hew  him  cedar  trees  out  of 
Lebanon."  Solomon  was  able  to  supply  the  manual 
labor,  for  which  he  "  raised  a  levy  of  thirty  thousand 
men,  and  sent  them  by  courses,  ten  thousand  a  month  ;" 
but  these  must  serve  under  the  orders  of  the  men  of 
Tyre,  who  "  could  skill  to  hew  timber,"  and  who  had 
also  to  engineer  the  transportation  of  the  huge  trunks 
that  came  out  of  the  mighty  cedars  of  Lebanon,  as 
Hiram  had  said,  "My  servants  shall  bring  them  down 
from  Lebanon  to  the  sea,  and  I  will  convey  them  by 
floats  unto  the  place  that  thou  shalt  appoint." 

Equally  dependent  Avas  Solomon  for  the  ornaments  of 
the  temple  on  the  men  of  Tyre,  who  were  cunning  artifi- 
cers in  all  kinds  of  metal  work,  so  that  not  only  the 
sacred  vessels,  but  the  stately  columns,  and  the  molten 
sea,  resting  on  the  backs  of  twelve  oxen,  all  of  "  bright 
brass,"  were  wrought  by  the   Sidonians.     "  So   Hiram 


230  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

made  an  end  of  doing  all  the  work  that  he  made  King 
Solomon  for  the  house  of  the  Lord." 

Here  is  a  bit  of  historj''  that  discloses  the  fact,  that, 
after  the  Israelites  had  been  over  four  hundred  years  in 
the  Promised  Land,  and  had  reached  the  highest  point 
of  power  and  of  glory  under  Solomon,  they  had,  as  their 
next-door  neighbors,  a  people  who  excelled  them,  both 
on  land  and  sea,  in  the  arts  of  construction  and  in  navi- 
gation. These  were  the  Phoenicians,  the  men  of  Tyre 
and  Sidon,  who,  at  that  early  day,  in  the  very  dawn  of 
history,  were  great  builders  and  navigators,  colonizers 
and  civilizers,  the  founders  of  states  and  empires. 

Such  a  people  soon  outgrew  the  place  of  their  habita- 
tion, which  was  but  a  narrow  strip  of  land  on  the  Syrian 
coast,  between  the  mountains  and  the  sea ;  and  sought  a 
moio  central  position,  with  more  space  around  it,  for  a 
city  that  should  be  the  capital  of  an  empire.  As  they 
sailed  up  and  down  the  Mediterranean,  they  came  to 
know  all  its  islands  and  its  shores,  and  finally  chose  a 
position  on  a  deep  gulf,  on  the  side  of  Africa,  midway 
between  the  east  and  the  west  of  the  great  sea;  and 
here,  eight  hundred  and  eighty  years  before  Christ,  and 
more  than  a  hundred  before  the  founding  of  Rome,  they 
laid  the  foundation  of  Carthage.  Whether  they  followed 
the  fortunes  of  an  unhappy  queen,  Dido,  who  came 
hither  to  pour  out  her  sorrows  on  this  African  coast, 
matters  little.  Romantic  traditions  that  have  been  woven 
into  the  vEneid  of  Yirgil  it  is  better  not  to  disturb.  The 
important  fact  is,  that  it  was  one  and  the  same  powerful 
race  that  wrought  in  different  parts  of  the  Mediterranean ; 
that  as  it  was  the  men  of  Tyre  who  laid  the  foundations  of 
the  Temple  of  Solomon,  so  it  was  their  descendants  who, 
a  hundred  years  after,  laid  the  foundations  of  a  city  that 


THE   FALL   OF   CARTHAGE  231 

was  to  become  the  greatest  of  the  ancient  world,  and  so 
continue  until  it  was  dethroned  by  Rome.  The  spot  on 
w-hich  that  historic  city  stood  is  but  six  miles  from  the 
modern  city  of  Tunis,  and  a  visit  to  it  is  the  chief  inter- 
est of  this  part  of  Northern  Africa. 

The  access  is  easy,  as  it  is  but  an  hour's  drive  across 
the  plain  ;  or,  easier  still,  the  little  Italian  railway  to 
the  Goletta  passes  so  near  that  it  is  but  a  short  walk 
from  the  station  to  the  foot  of  the  hill,  which  you  climb, 
and  find  yourself  on  the  top  of  the  ancient  Byrsa,  the 
Acropolis  of  Carthage,  that  was  once  crowned  by  the 
citadel  and  by  the  Temple  of  Esculapius,  which  stood  in 
the  very  heart  of  the  city,  as  St.  Paul's  stands  in  the 
heart  of  London. 

The  scene  is  enchanting.  In  the  distance  stretches 
the  blue  Mediterranean,  with  but  a  sail  here  and  there 
breaking  the  line  of  the  horizon.  But  could  you  trans- 
port yourself  back  twenty-five  hundred  years,  the  s])ec- 
tacle  would  be  far  more  animated,  as  that  horizon  would 
be  white  with  the  sails  of  ships  going  to  or  coming  from 
shores  as  far  apart  as  Eg\^pt  and  Spain. 

In  the  nearer  view,  and  almost  under  your  feet,  you 
look  do-wn  on  a  broad  and  beautiful  bay,  with  an  open 
roadstead,  the  largest  on  the  coast.  A  part  of  the  bay 
that  was  more  under  the  shelter  of  the  land,  and  there- 
fore more  easy  of  protection,  w^as  divided  into  two  har- 
bors, an  outer  and  an  inner  one.  The  latter  was  enclosed 
by  a  wall,  and  bad  an  island  in  the  centre,  with  quays 
and  docks  for  over  two  hundred  ships.  Here  were  the 
arsenals,  and  here  lay  the  Carthaginian  fleet,  composed 
of  ships  of  all  sizes,  from  the  trh'emes,  with  but  three 
banks  of  oars,  to  the  quinqiieremes  and  hexiremes,  with 
five  and  six,  requiring  no  less  than  three  hundred  galley 


232  THE  BARBABY   COAST 

slaves  as  rowers  ;  besides  a  hundred  and  twenty  fighting 
men.  These  were  their  line-of-battle  ships,  which  were 
armed  with  iron  beaks  at  the  prow,  and,  being  propelled 
with  tremendous  force,  would  break  through  almost  any 
opposing  line,  and  once  at  close  quarters,  the  marines 
threw  themselves  on  the  enemy's  decks  and  fought  hand 
to  hand.  With  such  a  navy  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
Carthaginians  kept  so  long  the  mastery  of  the  sea. 

But  of  more  interest,  even,  than  this  warlike  array  in 
the  harbor,  were  the  ships  of  commerce  which  connected 
Carthage  with  all  the  ports  of  the  Mediterranean,  in 
Europe  and  Asia,  as  well  as  in  Africa.  Here  lay  the 
"ships  of  Tarshish,"  so  called  because  they  made  voy- 
ages to  Tarshish  in  Spain.  Nor  did  the  venturesome 
navigators  stop  at  the  Pillars  of  Hercules.  Two  thou- 
sand years  before  Columbus,  the  men  of  Carthage  sailed 
out  boldly  into  the  Atlantic,  extending  their  voyages  to 
Great  Britain  and  to  the  Baltic,  and  far  down  the 
western  coast  of  Africa.  It  is  even  claimed  that  they 
pushed  their  Avay  to  the  very  end  of  the  continent,  and 
anticipated  Yasco  da  Gama  in  passing  round  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  into  the  Indian  Ocean.  So  Carthage 
became,  and  continued  for  centuries  to  be,  the  centre  of 
a  universal  commerce,  sitting,  like  Venice  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  as  a  queen  upon  the  waters,  and  having  jwured 
into  her  lap  the  riches  of  all  parts  of  the  then  known 
world. 

Thus  swelling  in  pomp  and  pride,  the  city  grew  till  it 
had  a  circuit  of  twenty-three  miles,  which,  if  not  so 
great  as  tliat  of  Babylon,  yet  enclosed  more  of  wealth 
and  imperial  grandeur,  because  of  the  commerce  which 
Babylon  could  not  possess.  Her  merchants  were  princes 
whose  villas  and  gardens  covered  yonder  plain  for  miles. 


THE  FALL  OF  CAETHAGE  233 

The  picture  would  be  complete  if  we  could  know  some- 
thing of  the  interior  life  of  the  people.  Mere  wealth 
does  not  imply  a  high  degree  of  culture.  It  may  exist 
without  general  intelligence  or  elevated  morals.  It  is 
here  that  we  are  left  in  ignorance  of  what  we  most  wish 
to  know,  and  what  we  do  know  in  regard  to  some  other 
ancient  peoples.  The  great  writei's  of  Greece  have  pre- 
served such  pictures  of  their  times,  that  we  could  take  up 
our  residence  in  Athens  and  feel  at  home,  as  we  should 
be  introduced  into  all  the  occupations  of  the  ancient 
Athenians,  even  to  their  amusements,  in  which  we  could 
mingle  with  them  in  their  public  games.  "What  would 
it  be  for  us  if  we  could  be  thus  introduced  to  Carthage  ;  if 
Ave  could  walk  her  streets ;  if  we  could  look  into  the  houses, 
or  visit  the  shops  and  the  markets,  or  go  down  to  the 
wharves,  and  talk  with  the  seamen  just  returned  from 
Spain.  But  nothing  of  this  have  we,  even  in  story. 
Carthage  has  left  no  literature.  Books  there  must  have 
been,  for  it  was  one  of  the  accusations  against  the 
Romans,  that  they  destroyed  the  public  libraries,  or  suf- 
fered them  to  perish  in  the  general  conflagration.  The 
Carthaginians,  therefore,  cannot  speak  for  themselves; 
and  it  is  their  hard  fate  that  even  their  history  must 
be  taken  chiefly  from  their  enemies.  This  fact  puts  us 
under  the  o:reater  oblioration  to  those  who,  out  of  such 
slender  materials,  have  picked  fragments  of  truth  which 
they  have  woven  into  a  connected  narrative.  Especial 
thanks  are  due  to  an  English  writer,  Mr.  Bosworth 
Smith,  who,  having  given  years  to  the  subject,  has  pro- 
duced a  book  entitled  "  Carthage  and  the  Carthaginians," 
which  may  not  only  claim  to  be  an  authentic  history,  but 
which  is  written  in  a  style  that  gives  it  a  peculiar  fas- 
cination. 


234  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

But  even  though  dead  and  buried,  a  city  that  stood  so 
many  centuries  must  have  left  some  monuments  of  her 
greatness,  which  it  is  our  first  task  to  discover.  But  the 
enthusiastic  traveller  who  comes  here  expecting  to  sit,  like 
Marius,  amid  the  ruins  of  Carthage,  and  meditate  on  the 
fall  of  empires,  is  surprised  and  disappointed  to  find  that 
such  ruins  do  not  exist. 

There  remains,  indeed,  one  monument  of  her  imperial 
greatness,  in  the  enormous  cisterns  that  received  the 
water  for  the  city.  I  know  it  is  generally  supposed  that 
these  were  not  the  work  of  the  Carthaginians,  but  of  the 
Komans  after  the  conquest,  when  Carthage  had  become 
a  Koman  city.  But  even  if  it  were  so,  it  is  quite  prob- 
able that  they  were  built,  or  rebuilt,  on  the  ancient  foun- 
dations ;  for  nothing  less  great  could  have  sufficed  for  the 
wants  of  a  city  that  (as  it  had  a  population  of  seven  hun- 
dred thousand  after  all  the  waste  and  destruction  of  two 
Punic  wars)  must  have  had,  in  the  days  of  its  glory,  over 
a  million  inhabitants.  Structures  that  are  half  under- 
ground are  not  expected  to  be  imposing  in  architecture ; 
but  these  are  immense  in  size,  a  hundred  feet  long, 
spanned  by  arches  of  twenty  feet,  and  twenty  feet  deep, 
which  give  us  some  idea  of  a  city  that  could  drink  up 
such  a  river  of  water  as  was  constantly  poured  into  these 
reservoirs  by  an  aqueduct  that  brought  it  from  the 
mountains  sixty  miles  away.  The  remains  of  this  aque- 
duct, that  still  stretch  across  the  plains  like  the  broken 
arches  of  the  Roman  Campagna,  furnish  one  of  the  most 
significant  proofs  of  the  greatness  of  this  African  city. 

But  this  is  all  that  Carthage  has  to  show.  Of  the  city 
itself  nothing  remains  standing.  This  is  a  disappoint- 
ment to  the  traveller.  But  he  should  remember  that 
Carthage  was   not  only  taken,  but   destroyed  so  com- 


THE  FALL   OF   CAKTHAGE  235 

pletely,  that  not  only  are  there  no  temples  like  the  Par- 
thenon, and  no  palaces  like  that  of  the  Caesars,  but  not 
even  a  broken  arch  or  column  to  mark  the  place  where 
it  stood.  Indeed,  all  that  is  left  of  Carthage  is  its  tomb, 
for  as  such  we  may  consider  the  Byrsa,  which  answers  to 
the  Capitoline  Hill  in  Rome,  beneath  which  are  buried 
the  foundations  of  temples  and  palaces,  all  mingled  in 
one  undistinguishable  ruin. 

This  is  quite  sufficient  to  show  why  there  are  no  ruins 
of  Carthage  in  a  sufficient  degree  of  preservation  to  be 
imposing,  like  those  in  the  Forum  at  Eome.  It  has 
often  been  suggested  that  there  should  be  excavations 
into  this  tumulus,  as  into  that  which  covers  the  remains 
of  ancient  Troy.  This  has  been  attempted  in  a  small 
Avay,  but  the  work  is  expensive,  and  hardly  justified  by 
the  result.  But  scattered  fragments  are  found  here  and 
there,  as  weapons  of  war  are  picked  up  on  a  battle-field, 
that  tell  of  the  warriors  who  fought  over  it.  There  are 
household  utensils  and  personal  ornaments  in  silver  and 
gold,  that  indicate  the  wealth  and  luxury  of  the  ancient 
inhabitants.  When  I  was  here  before,  I  had  a  letter 
to  the  archaeologist  sent  by  the  French  Government 
to  make  explorations,  who  had  already  begun  a  collec- 
tion which  he  had  arranged  in  a  hall  of  the  palace  at 
Bardo.  He  took  me  to  see  it,  and  came  Avith  me  also 
to  Carthage  itself,  where  he  had  gathered  materials  on 
the  spot  for  a  second  collection.  These,  though  not  to  be 
compared  with  those  in  the  museums  at  Rome  and 
Kaples,  are,  so  far  as  they  go,  full  of  interest  and  of  sug- 
gestion of  what  may  yet  be  discovered.  Here  one  may 
see  mosaic  pavements,  like  those  of  Pompeii,  that  were 
trodden  by  the  warlike  Carthaginians,  and  fragments  of 
columns  and  architraves,  that  give  some  idea  of  an  archl- 


236  THE  BARBARY  COAST 

tecture  that  resembled,  if  it  did  not  equal,  that  of  Rome ; 
and  the  ornaments,  some  of  them  exquisite  in  design, 
wrought  in  gold  and  studded  with  precious  gems,  that 
hung  on  the  necks  of  the  Cleopatras  of  Carthage  nearly 
three  thousand  yeare  ago. 

This  desolation  is  more  eloquent  than  any  ruins  could 
be.  No  one  can  stand  upon  the  grave  of  an  empire 
without  asking,  Whence  came  the  overthrow  of  all  this 
greatness  ?  It  is  the  old  story  of  pride  going  before  a 
fall.  Had  she  been  content  to  be  simply  prosperous, 
there  might  have  been  no  end  to  her  prosperity,  for  she 
led  the  commerce  of  the  world,  and  the  riches  of  all  lands 
were  poured  into  her  lap.  But  it  was  not  enough  that 
she  was  rich  above  all  other  nations :  she  must  be  above 
them  in  political  power;  she  would  have  no  rivals;  she 
must  be  first  on  land  and  sea.  So  completely  was  she 
mistress  of  the  Western  Mediterranean  that  she  suffered 
no  intruders.  Any  strange  sail  was  pursued  as  a  corsair, 
and  when  captured,  master  and  crew  were  thrown  into 
the  sea.  So  long  as  she  was  strong  enough  to  enforce 
her  will,  it  was  the  indispensable  condition  of  peace  with 
Rome,  that  Roman  ships  should  never  pass  Cape  Bon. 
Nor  were  the  grasping  Carthaginians  content  with  this  : 
they  would  be  lords  of  the  isles  as  well  as  lords  of  the 
sea.  Malta  was  a  refuge  for  the  ships  of  Carthage,  as  it 
now  is  for  the  ships  of  England.  Then  Corsica  was 
taken,  and  Sardinia.  But  the  greatest  prize  of  all  was 
the  large  island  of  Sicily,  lying  between  Africa  and 
Europe,  of  which  Carthage  took  the  western  half,  and 
would  have  taken  the  whole  but  that  the  eastern  coast 
had  been  settled  by  the  Greeks,  who  were  as  brave  and 
daring  as  the  Carthaginians,  whom  they  defeated  in  one 
battle,  with  a  loss  of  a  hundred  thousand  men  ;  while 


THE   FALL   OF   CARTHAGE  237 

their  countrymen  at  home,  in  the  same  year  and  on 
the  same  day,  destroyed  the  fleet  of  Xerxes  at  Salamis, 
a  double  victory  for  Greek  civihzation.  This  contest  for 
Sicily  led  to  a  series  of  wars  extending,  though  with  in- 
tervals of  peace,  over  two  hundred  years. 

But  all  this  was  only  preliminary  to  the  life-and-death 
struggle  with  Rome,  in  wdiich  the  two  greatest  powers 
in  the  world  put  forth  their  utmost  strength  to  destroy 
each  other.  Who  does  not  know  the  melancholy  story  ? 
Is  it  not  written  in  the  chronicles  of  the  Punic  wars? 
The  first  of  these  (for  there  were  three  of  them)  lasted 
twenty-three  years,  and  ended  then  only  from  mutual 
exhaustion,  when  Rome  and  Carthage  agreed  to  be  at 
peace,  but  which  was  really  but  an  armistice,  a  breathing 
spell  to  make  ready  for  a  fresh  contest;  for  at  the  end  of 
twenty-two  years  the  struggle  was  renewed,  and  con- 
tinued for  eighteen  years,  making  in  all  forty-one  years 
of  battle  and  of  blood  on  land  and  sea. 

It  is  not  the  business  of  a  traveller  to  tell  the  story  of 
old  wars :  that  belongs  to  the  historian.  But  there  is 
one  figure  that  appears  on  the  scene,  that  cannot  be  so 
lightly  dismissed — a  figure  as  great  in  that  age  as  Napo- 
leon in  ours.  Indeed,  there  are  many  points  in  which  the 
career  of  Hannibal  resembles  that  of  Napoleon.  Both 
had  hardly  reached  manhood  w^hen  they  were  placed  at 
the  head  of  great  armies.  Napoleon  was  but  twenty-six 
when  he  took  command  of  the  army  of  Italy  ;  Hannibal 
was  but  twenty-six  when  he  took  command  of  the  Car- 
thaginian army  in  Spain.  Napoleon  was  but  thirty 
when  he  led  his  soldiers  across  the  Alps  ;  Hannibal  was 
but  thirty  when  he  led  a  far  larger  army  a  far  longer 
march,  in  which  he  crossed  the  Pyrenees  before  he 
crossed  the  Alps,  and  on  his  way  from  one  to  the  other 


238  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

crossed  the  Rhone ;  and  Napoleon  himself  tells  us  that 
there  is  nothing  in  war  more  difficult  than  crossing'  a 
wide  river  in  face  of  an  enemy. 

The  great  achievement  of  that  war,  and  one  of  the 
greatest  ever  known  in  war,  was  the  crossing  of  the 
Alps,  in  Avhich  Hannibal  led  the  way  for  Napoleon  to 
follow  more  than  twenty  centuries  later,  but  in  which 
the  imitation  was  by  no  means  equal  to  the  original. 
Napoleon  had  not  to  go  far  to  find  the  enemy  or  the 
field  of  battle.  He  had  his  own  capital  as  his  base, 
Avhere  he  had  a  French  army  all  ready  at  his  command, 
which  had  only  to  march  through  French  territory,  and 
therefore  in  perfect  security,  to  the  foot  of  the  Great 
St.  Bernard.  Even  when  he  descended  into  Italy  he  was 
on  familiar  ground,  where  he  had  fought  battles  before. 
Hannibal  had  never  seen  the  country  he  invaded,  which 
he  reached  only  by  the  most  circuitous  route  through 
Spain  and  Gaul.  Part  of  his  army  were  from  the  other 
side  of  the  Mediterranean  :  men  of  different  races,  speak- 
ing different  languages ;  some  of  them  were  barbarians. 
The  famous  Numidian  cavalry  must  have  been  recruited 
from  the  tribes  of  the  desert,  as  they  rode  their  horses, 
like  our  Comanches,  without  saddle  or  bridle,  yet  with 
such  wild  fury  as  swept  away  the  knights  of  Kome. 
Such  was  the  strange,  miscellaneous  host  that  Hannibal 
set  in  motion  with  all  the  incumbrances  of  war,  with 
its  horses,  and  even  its  elephants,*  to  scale  the  moun- 

*  This  use  of  elephants  in  war  is  a  reminder  that  the  people  who  had 
such  an  attachment  to  their  army  came  out  of  Asia,  bringing  with 
them  the  military  habits  of  Eastern  monarchs,  who  went  to  war  not 
only  with  horses  and  chariots,  but  with  elephants.  It  is  a  singular 
fact  that  while  the  elephant  is  a  native  of  Africa,  and  that  in  some  parts 
of  the  interior  there  are  vast  herds  that  rove  in  the  forests,  as  the  buf- 


THE   FALL  OF  CARTHAGE  289 

tain  barrier  that  lay  between  them  and  the  Roman 
territory. 

History  has  given  the  details  of  that  terrible  march. 
It  was  a  new  experience  for  those  accustomed  to  the 
burning  sun  of  Africa  to  find  themselves  amid  the  snows, 
their  half-naked  bodies  shivering  in  the  winds  that  swept 
over  the  Alpine  heights.  Now  they  found  themselves 
in  a  narrow  defile,  where  hidden  enemies  could  roll  down 

faloes  once  roamed  on  our  Western  plains,  yet  the  elephant  has  never 
been  domesticated  for  use  in  peace  or  in  war.  But  cross  over  to  India, 
and  the  elephant  is  a  beast  of  burden  almost  as  much  as  the  horse  or  the 
camel,  and  is  always  an  imposing  figure  on  occasions  of  state.  When 
the  Prince  of  Wales  was  making  his  royal  progress  through  India,  every 
maharajah  who  was  honored  by  his  visit  met  him  at  the  city  gates  with 
a  train  of  elephants,  the  hugest  of  which  was  reserved  for  the  prince, 
and  when  covered  with  cloth  of  gold  seemed  not  an  unworthy  emblem 
of  the  colossal  power  that  was  personified  in  the  heir  to  the  throne. 
At  the  Camp  of  Exercise  at  Delhi,  elephants  drew  the  cannon  upon  the 
field,  and  then,  forming  in  line,  threw  up  their  trunks  in  air,  and 
trumpeted  aloud  their  homage  to  the  majesty  of  England. 

That  they  would  be  used  in  modern  warfare  is  doubtful,  since  it  has 
been  found,  even  in  India,  where  an  elephant  is  supposed  to  be  trained 
to  do  anything  and  stand  anytning,  that  they  are  badly  demoralized 
by  explosives.  At  the  battle  of  Plassey,  Surajah  Dowlah  had  a  large 
force  of  elephants  to  drag  the  cannon  on  the  field,  but  as  soon  as  they 
were  struck  by  shot  from  the  guns  of  Clive,  they  turned  to  flight  and 
rushed  away,  trampling  down  the  ranks  of  the  Indian  army,  and  help- 
ing Clive  to  gain  his  victory.  Prom  this  it  would  seem  that  they  did 
not  stand  fire  so  well  as  ordinary  cavalry.  But  in  ancient  times  there 
was  no  thunder  of  cannon,  so  that  the  strength  of  the  elephant  might 
be  made  of  service  in  a  line  of  battle.  However  that  may  be,  the  fact 
that  they  were  domesticated  three  thousand  years  ago  ;  and  that  in  the 
stables  of  Carthage,  with  the  four  thousand  horses  kept  for  the 
Numidian  cavalry,  there  were  three  hundred  elephants  ;  and  that 
elephants  formed  part  of  the  army  of  Hannibal,  is  proof  suflicient  that 
the  men  of  Carthage ,  though  they  lived  in  Africa,  were  not  Africans,  but 
came  out  of  Asia,  bringing  with  them  the  military  customs  of  the  East, 
even  to  this  peculiar  feature  of  "  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  war." 


240  I'HE  BARBARY   COAST 

rocks  upon  their  heads ;  and  again  they  were  stopped  on 
the  edge  of  a  precipice  till  they  could  cut  a  path  in  the 
side  of  the  cliff,  by  which  they  could  creep  around  it  in 
single  file,  and  then  widen  it  a  few  feet  more  till  they 
could  pass  the  horses  and  the  elephants. 

This  was  a  test  of  endurance  that  would  have  demor- 
alized an  army  that  was  at  once  half  frozen  and  half 
starved,  if  it  had  not  been  inspired  by  the  example  of  its 
leader.  But  where  he  led  the  way,  his  African  soldiers 
could  follow,  till  at  last  they  reached  the  summit,  and 
saw  the  streams  running  to  the  south,  and  in  the  distance 
caught  the  gleam  of  green  valleys,  to  which  the  great 
commander  pointed  with  one  significant  word,  "  There  is 
Eome ! " 

But  though  the  obstacles  of  nature  were  overcome,  yet 
this  bold  invasion  of  the  enemy's  country  seemed  an 
act  of  madness.  The  army  of  Hannibal  had  been  re- 
duced to  less  than  one-third  of  that  with  which  he  set 
out  from  Spain.  Then  it  counted  ninety  thousand  infan- 
try, twelve  thousand  cavalry,  and  thirty-seven  elephants. 
Now,  of  all  that  brilliant  array,  he  could  muster  but 
twelve  thousand  infantry  and  six  thousand  cavalry,  to 
which  the  Romans  could  oppose  many  times  the  number, 
besides  the  immense  advantage  of  fighting  in  their  own 
country.  Yet  Hannibal  never  hesitated  a  moment,  any 
more  than  Napoleon  hesitated,  when  he  had  crossed  the 
Alps,  to  push  on  to  fight  the  battle  of  Marengo.  Both 
leaders  knew  their  men  and  knew  themselves;  and  in 
both  cases  the  result  justified  their  confidence. 

For  a  time  Hannibal  moved  from  victory  to  victory, 
till  in  the  battle  of  Cannae  he  not  only  defeated,  but 
annihilated,  the  Roman  army.  Fifty  thousand  men  lay 
dead  upon  the  ground.     Then  it  seemed  as  if  the  hour 


THE   FALL   OF   CARTHAGE  241 

of  judgment  had  come  upon  haughty,  imperial  Rome; 
and  if,  in  that  moment  of  terror  and  dismay,  he  had 
marched  upon  the  city,  it  appears  to  us,  at  this  distance 
of  time,  that  it  must  have  fallen,  which  might  have 
changed  the  history  of  the  world.  But  that  was  not  to 
be.  After  a  brief  paroxysm  of  despair,  the  old  Roman 
courage  and  constancy  returned  in  the  resolve  that  the 
state  should  hot  die.  As  Carthage  sent  no  reenforce- 
ments  to  Hannibal,  he  had  to  move  slowl}'-,  and  the  delay 
in  pushing  his  victory  gave  time  to  recover  from  defeat, 
and  soon  the  tide  began  to  turn.  It  is  the  highest  proof 
of  his  consummate  generalship,  that,  left  unsupported,  he 
maintained  himself  in  Italy  seventeen  years.  But  by 
that  time  Rome  had  grown  so  strong  that  she  was  able 
to  carry  the  war  into  Africa,  and  Hannibal  had  to  return 
for  the  defence  of  his  country,  and  fought  his  last  battle 
against  Scipio,  when  "the  hero  of  a  hundred  victories 
suffered  his  one  defeat." 

Here  ended  the  military  career  of  the  great  Cartha- 
ginian, and  here  again  we  find  a  parallel  with  that  of 
Napoleon.  Hannibal  fought  his  last  battle,  at  Zama, 
when  he  was  but  forty-five  years  of  age;  Napoleon 
fought  his  last  battle,  at  Waterloo,  when  he  was  but 
forty-six.  But  that  which  was  the  end  of  Napoleon 
only  gave  another  opportunity  to  show  the  greatness  of 
Hannibal,  who  could  step  down  from  the  head  of  his 
army  to  the  place  of  a  simple  citizen,  without  loss  of  dig- 
nit}?",  and  was  at  once  elected  to  the  highest  office  in  the 
state,  and  showed  that  he  was  able  to  render  services  to 
his  country  in  peace  as  well  as  in  war.  But  the  terror 
of  his  name  was  still  felt  at  Rome,  which,  even  when 
victorious,  was  not  quite  secure  so  long  as  her  great 
enemy  might  again  appear  in  the  field,  and  made  a 
l« 


242  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

demand  for  his  surrender,  so  that  to  relieve  his  own 
people,  he  chose  the  alternative  of  voluntary  exile,  and 
left  the  country  which  he  was  never  to  see  again.  Sail- 
ing up  the  Mediterranean,  he  visited  Tyre,  the  cradle  of 
his  race,  from  which  he  went  into  Asia  Minor,  pursued 
everywhere  by  his  unrelenting  enemy,  till  at  last,  when 
the  King  of  Bithynia,  overawed  by  the  mighty  power  of 
Rome,  was  about  to  surrender  him,  he  took  poison, 
which  he  had  long  carried  concealed  in  a  ring,  and  so 
ended  his  marvellous  history.  Again  comes  the  parallel 
with  Kapoleon.  Both  died  afar  from  the  land  of  their 
birth  :  Hannibal  not  in  Africa,  but  in  Asia ;  and  Napoleon 
not  in  Europe,  but  far  away,  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  on  the 
rock  of  St.  Helena.  Years  after  his  body  was  brought 
back  to  Paris,  "  to  repose,"  as  he  had  wished,  "  on  the 
banks  of  the  Seine,  among  the  French  people  whom  he  had 
loved  so  well."  Carthage  could  not  give  to  Hannibal  even 
a  grave.  And  he,  in  turn,  could  leave  to  his  unhappy 
country  only  the  memory  of  his  patriotic  devotion  and 
the  glory  of  an  immortal  name. 

There  is  nothing  sadder  in  history  than  the  record  of 
lost  opportunities.  If,  after  the  close  of  the  second  Punic 
war,  Home  had  yielded  anything  to  conciliate  the  pride 
of  her  adversary,  there  might  have  been  lasting  peace. 
But  Rome  never  knew  the  virtue  of  magnanimity.  The 
surrender  was  attended  with  every  circumstance  of  hu- 
miliation. The  last  blow  was  the  burning  of  the  Cartha- 
ginian fleet,  in  which  five  hundred  ships  were  towed  out 
of  the  harbor  and  committed  to  the  flames,  in  the  sight  of 
the  whole  population,  that  watched  the  destruction  with 
a  bitterness  that  could  hardly  have  been  greater  if  it  had 
been  the  burning  of  the  city  itself. 

Thus,  at  the  very  moment  that  Carthage  was  forced  to 


\ 


THE   FALL   OF  CARTHAGE  243 

submission,  she  was  stripped  of  the  means,  not  only  of 
resistance,  but  of  maintaining  her  dignity,  a  position 
most  galling  to  a  proud  and  high-spirited  people.  Not 
even  the  death  of  "  the  dread  Hannibal,"  as  Livy  calls 
him,  which  would  have  awakened  a  feeling  of  respect  in 
the  breast  of  a  generous  foe,  could  abate  the  old  hatred 
of  Rome,  which  now  began  to  contemplate  something 
more  than  conquest,  even  extermination!  Old  Cato, 
honest,  but  stern  and  unrelenting,  paid  a  visit  to  Car- 
thage, and  finding  that  she  had  resources  left  that  would 
make  her  still  a  dangerous  rival,  came  back  to  Eome 
with  this  word  upon  his  lips :  "  Carthago  est  delenda  !  " 
("  Carthage  must  be  destroyed  ! ")  with  which  he  closed 
every  speech  in  the  Roman  Senate.  It  was  easy  to  find 
a  pretext  for  a  new  invasion.  Carthage,  reduced  in  ter- 
ritory, had  been  left  to  be  attacked  by  its  African  neigh- 
bors, and  when  she  resisted,  was  called  to  account  for 
making  war  without  permission  of  Rome,  which  demanded 
as  guarantees  for  the  future  three  hundred  hostages  from 
the  noblest  families  of  Carthage,  and  the  surrender  of  all 
weapons  of  war ;  after  which  it  was  announced,  as  the 
decree  of  Rome,  that  the  city  must  be  levelled  with  the 
ground,  but  that  the  inhabitants  might  build  another  city 
anywhere  along  the  coast,  only  that  it  must  be  ten  miles 
from  the  sea !  This  drove  them  to  the  last  extremity. 
They  could  but  die,  and  they  would  die  in  defence  of 
their  altars  and  their  fires.  Returning  within  the  walls 
of  their  city,  from  Avhich  every  weapon  of  war  had  been 
taken,  they  organized  one  of  the  most  heroic  defences  in 
history,  which  kept  the  Romans  at  bay  for  two  years, 
and  was  ended  at  last  only  by  a  second  Scipio,  who  was 
to  win  the  title  of  Africanus,  at  the  head  of  a  great  army. 
As  we  stand  here  on  the  Byrsa,  and  look  across  the  bay, 


244  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

we  can  see  the  very  point  of  land  on  which  Scipio  dis- 
embarked (not  choosing  to  attack  the  city  in  front,  but 
to  make  a  sweep  around  it,  so  as  to  approach  it  from 
the  rear),  and  can  follow  the  line  of  march  till  we  see 
the  mighty  host  encamped  beyond  the  walls,  with  the 
Roman  eagles  flying  over  them. 

The  issue  was  inevitable.  Carthage  had  no  longer  a 
Hannibal  to  defend  her.  By  regular  approaches  the  be- 
siegers closed  in  upon  the  doomed  city.  When  they  had 
breached  the  walls,  and  made  an  entrance,  the  people 
fought  with  the  fury  of  despair,  even  while  the  city  was 
on  fire.  As  in  the  burning  of  Moscow,  the  flames,  when 
extinguished  in  one  part  of  the  city,  burst  out  in  another, 
so  that  it  was  kept  burning  for  seventeen  days.  And  all 
the  while  the  battle  went  on.  The  people  fought  from 
street  to  street,  till  at  last,  as  the  combatants  grew 
fewer,  there  were  but  some  fifty  thousand  driven  into 
the  citadel,  who  surrendered,  to  go  forth  from  their 
proud  capital  as  captives  and  slaves,  while  the  merciless 
conqueror  ploughed  up  the  very  ground  where  the  city 
stood,  and  sowed  it  with  salt,  that  it  might  not  even 
bring  forth  the  products  of  nature,  in  token  that  the 
enemy  of  Rome,  after  its  struggle  of  a  hundred  years, 
had  been  blotted  out  of  existence. 

The  fall  of  Carthage  is  the  most  awful  tragedy  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  Other  cities  have  been  taken  by 
storm.  Garrisons  have  been  put  to  the  sword.  Women 
and  children  have  been  massacred  by  a  brutal  soldiery. 
But  never  before  did  one  blow  destroy  a  race  and  a  civili- 
zation. From  this  time  the  Carthaginians  disappear  from 
history.  The  second  power  in  the  Avorld— a  power  that 
had  flourished  for  seven  hundred  years — is  swept  from 
the  face  of  the  earth ! 


THE  FALL  OF  CAETHAGE  245 

But  overwhelming  as  the  end  was,  if  it  had  been  a 
war  of  civilizations,  in  which  one  or  the  other,  Carthage 
or  Kome,  must  perish,  there  can  be  little  doubt  which  it 
was  better,  for  the  interests  of  mankind,  should  survive. 
With  all  that  was  great  in  Carthage,  with  its  commerce 
and  its  wealth,  we  cannot  forget  that  the  men  of  Tyre, 
who  founded  it,  brought  with  them  the  worship  of  Baal- 
Moloch,  with  its  ghastly  offering  of  human  sacrifices, 
and  that  the  drums  which  drowned  the  shrieks  of  victims 
in  the  valley  of  Hinnom  Avere  heard  also  on  these  shores. 
Nor  was  it  only  their  enemies,  captives,  or  slaves  that 
were  thus  sacrificed,  but  the  fairest  of  their  own  sons 
and  daughters,  as  the  only  offering  with  which  Moloch 
could  be  appeased.  Thus  their  very  religion  was  an 
education  in  crueltj".  The  religion  of  Rome,  with  all 
its  false  gods,  was  not  so  cruel  and  bloody  as  this. 

And  there  was  in  the  Eoman  state  an  element  of 
civilization,  which  its  conquests  were  to  spread  over  the 
ancient  world.  Its  dominion  was  a  dominion  of  law. 
It  is  the  Homan  law  which  is  the  foundation  of  the 
codes  of  all  modern  states,  and  if  we  may,  without  pre- 
sumption, interpret  the  intent  of  the  Great  Kuler  in  the 
ordering  of  human  affairs,  it  was  that  Roman  civiliza- 
tion should  prevail  over  the  world ;  that  the  reign  of 
law  should  prepare  the  way  for  the  reign  of  peace; 
when,  in  place  of  one  universal  dominion,  there  should 
be  a  universal  brotherhood. 

The  date  of  the  fall  of  Carthage  was  one  hundred 
and  forty-six  years  before  Christ.  For  thirty  yeare  the 
city  lay  on  heaps,  a  scene  of  utter  desolation,  when 
the  Romans  themselves  began  to  clear  away  the  ruins. 
Here  Julius  Caisar  planted  a  colony,  and  his  successor 
Augustus  (whose  long  reign  of  peace  gave  opportunity 


2-lG  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

for  such  restorations)  began  to  rebuild  the  city,  which, 
though  it  never  equalled  its  former  splendor,  grew  to 
be  the  most  important  city  on  this  side  of  the  Medi- 
terranean ;  and,  as  Christianity  spread  along  the  coast, 
it  became  the  seat  of  a  bishop,  who  w^as  a  kind  of  African 
pope.  Here  lived  Cyprian,  one  of  the  Christian  Fathers, 
and  here  was  held  the  famous  Council  of  Carthage  in 
the  year  252.  But  this  dawning  prosperity  was  destroyed 
by  the  Vandals,  who,  in  439,  nine  3'ears  after  they  had 
taken  Hippo,  captured  Carthage,  and  held  it  for  nearly 
a  hundred  years,  till  their  power  was  utterly  broken  in  a 
great  battle  by  Belisarius,  in  534.  These  successive  wai's 
so  weakened  the  country,  that  it  became  an  easy  prey  to 
the  Arab  conquest,  and  the  city  was  destroyed  by  the 
Saracens  in  698,  after  which  followed  the  long,  dark 
night  of  a  thousand  years. 

This  is  almost  a  blank  space  in  history.  Yet  there  are 
gleams  of  light  in  this  African  sky.  Even  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  when  the  darkness  was  deepest,  the  Crusades  that 
})assed  on  their  way  up  the  Mediterranean  flashed  a  sud- 
den light  along  these  shores,  if  it  were  only  to  tell  that 
Christendom  still  lived.  To  this  very  site  of  ancient 
Carthage  came  the  noblest  of  the  Crusaders,  Louis  IX. 
of  France,  in  1270,  at  the  head  of  sixty  thousand  men. 
But  he  came  only  to  die.  A  pestilence  broke  out  in  the 
army,  and  he  was  one  of  the  first  victims.  It  is  signifi- 
cant of  the  changes  in  human  affairs,  that  here,  where 
civilization  was  overwhelmed  by  barbarism,  and  the 
religion  of  Mahomet  drove  out  the  religion  of  Christ, 
a  chapel  should  now  stand  in  memory  of  the  Most 
Christian  King.  In  this  tribute  all  can  join,  not  to 
the  Crusader,  nor  even  to  the  king;  but  to  one  who  was 
among  French  kings  what  Marcus  Aurelius  was  among 


THE   FALL   OF   CAETHAGE  247 

Roman  emperors :  who  gave  to  the  throne  a  greater 
dignity  than  it  gave  to  him  ;  who,  in  his  pride  as  a  sov- 
ereign, never  forgot  his  duty  to  rule  in  justice  and  in 
righteousness.  No  matter  what  his  country  or  his  creed, 
the  spot  is  sacred  where  such  a  man  gave  up  his  soul  to 
God. 

But  St.  Louis  is  not  the  only  Crusader  that  France 
has  sent  to  these  shores.  On  this  very  spot  is  buried  one 
who  died  only  within  the  past  year,  who  was  as  true  a 
knight  as  ever  marched  to  the  rescue  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre :  a  man  of  such  noble  presence  and  military  bearing 
that  he  might  have  been  taken  for  a  marshal  of  France. 
This  was  Cardinal  Lavigerie,  who  had  hot  blood  in  his 
veins,  but  whose  indignation  was  always  against  wrong, 
and,  most  of  all,  wrong  done  to  a  feebler  race ;  and  who 
traversed  Europe,  stirring  the  hearts  of  princes  and 
people  by  his  fiery  eloquence,  if  so  he  might  rouse  them 
to  undertake  a  veritable  crusade  to  put  an  end  to  the 
African  slave  trade. 

But  Cardinal  Lavigerie  was  not  merely  a  great  orator, 
he  was  a  great  organizer.  lie  founded  a  religious  order, 
that  of  the  White  Fathers  (so  called  from  their  white 
monks'  robes),  for  the  special  duty  of  penetrating  the 
Sahara  and  the  Soudan.  It  was  a  service  of  peculiar 
danger.  The  first  who  were  sent  out  were  massacred  by 
the  wild  tribes  of  Bedaween.  But  the  greater  the  danger, 
the  greater  the  courage !  This  was  never  wanting.  Wot 
only  was  the  order  composed  of  picked  men,  but  they 
were  inspired  by  the  spirit  of  their  leader.  No  one 
could  look  in  the  face  of  that  African  lion  without  being 
made  stronger  and  braver  than  before.  As  I  came  out 
of  the  Chapel  of  St.  Louis,  I  met  one  whom  I  recog- 
nized by  his  garb,  and  addressed  with  the  freedom  that 


248  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

one  always  feels  towards  an  old  soldier.  "Ah,  mon 
frere,  are  you,  too,  one  of  the  conscripts  for  the  holy 
war?"  to  which  he  answered  as  a  soldier  answers  to  the 
roll-call,  who  waits  only  for  his  marching  orders.  "  And 
your  heart  does  not  fail  you  ? "  I  was  thinking  of  the 
bones  of  his  brothers  now  whitening  the  sands  of  the 
desert.  He  smiled  at  the  suggestion  of  fear,  or  that  he 
might  shrink  from  any  danger.  "  And  when  would  you 
go  ? "  "  To-morrow  morning  ! "  was  the  instant  reply. 
This  is  magnificent ;  and  if  the  Church,  Catholic  or  Prot- 
estant, can  command  the  services  of  many  of  such  heroic 
mould,  another  generation  will  not  pass  before  the  moun- 
tains of  Africa  will  be  made  beautiful  by  the  feet  of 
those  who  publish  the  tidings  of  peace. 

It  is  but  a  few  months  since  Cardinal  Lavigerie  was 
pushing  on  this  organization,  for  which  he  had  gone  to 
Algiers  (where  is  the  "Mother  House"  of  the  several 
convents  or  training  schools),  when,  on  almost  the  last 
day  of  autumn,  as  the  leaves  were  falling,  he  ceased  to 
breathe. 

But  though  he  died  in  Algiers,  it  could  not  claim  his 
dust,  for  it  was  not  his  home.  Though  he  had  once  been 
Archbishop  of  Algiers,  yet  ten  years  since,  when  Tunis 
was  taken  under  the  protection  of  France,  in  the  general 
reorganization  the  bishopric  of  Carthage  was  revived,  and 
was  fitly  assigned  to  the  most  eminent  man  in  the  Church, 
who  had  devoted  his  life  to  Africa;  so  that  Cardinal 
Lavigerie,  as  Bishop  of  Carthage,  w^as  the  direct  successor 
of  St.  Cyprian,  who  suffered  martyrdom  more  than 
sixteen  centuries  ago.  Here  he  spent  the  rest  of  his 
days.  But  it  was  not  a  retirement  for  repose.  His  rest- 
less mind  was  as  busy  as  ever.  He  founded  a  college 
that  has  five  hundred  students — not  Catholics  only,  but 


THE   FALL   OF   CARTHAGE  249 

Protestants  and  Greeks  and  Jews,  and  even  Musulmans. 
He  built  a  chapel,  Notre  Dame  de  VAfrique,  and,  last 
and  greatest  of  all,  began  the  erection,  on  the  highest 
point  of  Carthage,  of  a  cathedral,  to  which  his  ashes 
liave  been  brought  as  its  most  precious  treasure,  and 
which  now  remains  at  once  his  monument  and  his  tomb. 
As  I  stood  by  the  marble  slab  that  covers  him,  I  read 
that  illustrious  name  with  the  same  veneration  that  I  read 
the  name  of  David  Livingstone  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
Here,  as  there,  the  tomb  of  the  crusader  will  be  forever 
a  place  of  pilgrimage,  to  which  will  come  the  dusky  sons 
of  Africa,  to  stand  with  uncovered  heads  around  the 
dust  of  the  benefactor  of  their  race. 

Three  days  after  this  I  left  Tunis  for  Marseilles.  As 
we  stood  out  to  sea,  the  ship's  company  were  all  on  deck, 
looking  back  at  the  receding  shores,  on  which  the  most 
conspicuous  object  was  the  cathedral,  whose  white  walls, 
as  they  reflected  the  setting  sun,  shone  like  the  gates  of 
the  heavenly  city.  The  last  glimpse  of  poor,  dark 
Africa  was  of  something  bright,  a  bow  in  the  cloud,  the 
sign  of  a  happier  to-morrow. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

A    SOUND    OF    WAR 

The  twilight  fading  over  the  sea  comes  on  so  gently, 
and  touches  the  spirit  so  softly,  that  one  is  apt  to  fall, 
like  Ben  Adhem,  into  "  a  deep  dream  of  peace,"  from 
which  it  is  a  rude  awakening  to  hear  in  the  distance  the 
sound  of  war.  But  only  a  few  months  have  passed,  and 
that  sound  is  distinctly  heard,  far  off,  indeed,  at  the  other 
end  of  the  Barbary  coast,  but  so  near  to  Europe  that  it 
is  echoed  on  the  other  side  of  the  Mediterranean,  where 
all  are  listening  to  know  what  it  means,  and  what  it  may 
portend. 

The  cause  was  of  the  slightest.  For  two  hundred  years 
the  Spaniards  have  held  a  small  town  on  the  African 
coast  as  a  penal  settlement,  as  if  it  were  an  additional 
security  at  home  to  transport  their  criminals  across  the 
sea.  It  did  no  harm  to  Morocco,  for  this  imported  popu- 
lation was  certainly  a  very  quiet  one,  as  it  was  kept  close 
within  prison  walls.  I  once  spent  a  day  at  Melilla,  where 
the  steamer  was  anchored  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the 
fortress-prison,  and  not  a  face  showed  itself  at  the  barred 
windows.  The  inmates  could  not  escape  if  they  would, 
and  would  not  if  they  could,  for  it  would  be  only  to 
meet  a  worse  fate  at  the  hands  of  the  fierce  tribesmen, 
who  would  either  kill  them,  or  sell  them  into  slavery. 

Bat  the  possession  of  even  this  little  bit  of  territory 
was  an  offence  to  the  mountaineers,  who  are  fanatical 
Moslems,  and  traditional  haters  of   the  Spaniards,  and 


A  SOUND   OF   WAR  251 

who  suddenly  swooped  down  upon  them  to  drive  them 
into  the  sea.  Taken  by  surprise,  they  made  a  brave 
resistance,  and  held  the  position  till  they  could  be  re- 
enforced,  while  ships  of  war  threw  shells  into  the  camp 
of  the  besiegers.  This  would  not  be  of  much  importance, 
were  it  not  that  this  sudden  outburst  of  fur\'  is  a  torch 
thrown  into  a  mass  of  inflammable  materials,  from  which 
the  fires  may  spread  over  miountain  and  plain,  till  they 
sweep  the  country.  Already  it  is  said  that  the  whole 
of  Morocco  is  greatly  excited,  while  the  Spaniards  are 
equally  fierce  for  war.  This  is  a  critical  position,  which 
may  end  in  a  general  war  between  the  two  countries, 
that  could  not  go  on  long  without  involving  other  Euro- 
pean powers,  all  eager  to  share  in  the  dividing  of  the 
great  estate. 

But  is  Morocco  worth  fighting  for  ?  It  is  the  greatest 
prize  in  the  world !  One  has  but  to  look  on  the  map  to 
see  the  extent  of  the  country.  It  is  larger  than  Spain  ; 
larger  than  France ;  larger  than  the  whole  German  em- 
pire. Nor  is  it  a  barren  Avaste.  Though  bounded  on  the 
south  by  the  Desert  of  Sahara,  it  is  not  a  desert  itself. 
On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  ancient  Mauritania,  which,  in 
the  time  of  the  Caesars,  was  the  granary  of  Eome. 
That  fertility  it  retains,  in  spite  of  all  the  waste  and 
neglect  of  two  thousand  years.  The  surface  of  the  coun- 
try is  as  diversified  as  our  own.  It  is  crossed  by  the 
Atlas  Mountains  in  three  great  ranges,  between  which  are 
boundless  valleys  and  plains,  whose  fertility  is  like  that 
of  Minnesota  and  Manitoba,  with  a  soil  of  five,  six,  and 
even  ten  feet  of  black  loam.  Those  who  have  travelled 
in  the  interior  have  told  me  of  riding  through  fields 
where  the  long  stalks  were  above  their  horses'  heads. 
Even  with  the  wretched  cultivation  of  the  Moors,  who 


252  THE  BARBARY  COAST 

barely  scratch  the  surface  of  the  ground,  it  yields  enor- 
mous harvests. 

Equally  rich  is  the  country  in  minerals.  It  is  a  land 
of  silver  and  gold.  The  hills  bring  forth  brass,  and  the 
mountains  bring  forth  iron.  It  has  enormous  deposits  of 
copper.  The  luxury  of  salt  need  not  be  denied  to  the 
poorest ;  while  in  the  interior  the  natives  have  long  been 
familiar  witli  what  they  call  "  the  fat  of  the  rock,"  which 
is  nothing  but  petroleum,  gushing  out  in  springs,  or  bub- 
bling up  from  wells  so  deep  and  inexhaustible  as  to  be 
sufficient  to  light  up  the  whole  of  the  Dark  Continent. 

And  what  the  country  can  produce,  it  can  transport. 
The  mountains  are  so  many  reservoirs  of  what  the}'  gather 
from  the  clouds,  and  murmur  with  the  streams  that 
trickle  down  their  sides,  and  form  rivet's  that  flow  through 
the  valle3's,  by  which  the  riches  of  the  interior  can  be 
carried  to  the  ports  of  commerce ;  while  on  the  open  sea, 
Morocco  has  a  coast  line  of  hundreds  of  miles  both  on 
the  Atlantic  and  on  the  Mediterranean. 

A  country  of  such  magnificent  proportions  ought  to 
be  the  seat  of  an  empire.  Xot  only  should  it  be  the  head 
and  front  of  Africa,  but  it  should  be  one  of  the  most 
powerful  kingdoms  in  the  world.  Why  is  it  not  so? 
Are  its  people  enervated  by  a  |)estilential  climate  ?  On 
the  contrary,  although  it  is  farther  south  than  Europe, 
the  heat  is  so  tempered  by  breezes  from  the  sea,  that 
towns  on  the  coast  are  resorted  to  for  health,  wherever 
it  is  safe  for  Europeans  to  reside.  If  there  bo  a  country 
in  the  world  where  men  should  not  suffer  from  the  ex- 
tremes of  heat  or  cold,  it  is  Morocco.  Nor  should  any 
be  hungry  or  naked  in  a  land  which  brings  forth  every- 
thing for  the  service  of  man. 

And  yet  this  country,  so  rich  by  nature,  is  one  of  the 


A  SOUIH)   OF  WAR  253 

poorest  in  the  world.  It  is  not  that  the  curse  of  God 
has  fallen  upon  it,  but  only  the  folly  and  the  wickedness 
of  man.  One  cause  is  enough  :  the  government  is  an 
absolute  despotism — all  power,  even  to  that  of  life  and 
death,  is  held  in  one  iron  hand ! 

No  man  on  earth  is  fit  to  be  entrusted  with  such 
power,  lest  he  become  a  tyrant  in  spite  of  himself.  And 
yet  those  ^vho  have  had  some  opportunity  of  studying 
the  character  of  the  Sultan  of  Morocco  tell  me  that  he 
is  by  no  means  cold,  pitiless,  and  cruel.  Mr.  Perdicaris 
thinks  him  "  the  best  ruler  that  ever  sat  upon  the  throne 
of  Morocco."  He  describes  him  as  a  man  of  majestic 
figure,  and  of  a  noble  countenance,  not  defaced  by 
passion,  by  hatred,  or  revenge,  but  softened,  as  well  as 
saddened,  by  the  melancholy  expression  that  is  common 
in  Orientals ;  with  an  eye  that  indicates  anything  but  a 
cruel  nature.  This  we  can  well  believe  in  looking  at  a 
likeness  that  I  have  reason  to  believe  is  the  only  one 
in  existence  that  gives  any  just  impression  of  the  man.* 

*  This  was  a  singular  piece  of  good  fortune.  In  Tangier  I  made  re- 
peated inquiries  for  a  photograph  of  the  Sultan,  but  could  find  nothing, 
good  or  bad.  Sidna  Muley  Hassan,  though  he  had  been  on  the  throne 
twenty  years,  had  never  been  in  Tangier  but  once,  three  years  since. 
But  even  if  he  had  lived  there  he  would  have  allowed  no  one  to  take 
a  likeness  of  his  royal  countenance,  for  the  Moslems  interpret  the  com- 
mand not  to  make  graven  images  to  forbid  it.  But  when  he  took  his 
departure,  as  he  rode  out  of  the  Kasbah,  in  the  midst  of  a  great  proces- 
sion, somebody  who  had  a  kodak  took  a  snap  shot  at  the  crowd.  This 
the  American  Consul  sent  to  me  after  my  return  home,  but  I  could 
make  nothing  of  it  ;  for  though  the  Sultan  was  the  centre  of  the  pro- 
cession, his  face  was  hardly  bigger  than  the  head  of  a  pin.  1  had  it 
enlarged  to  the  size  of  an  ordinary  photograph.  But  that  only  made 
its  defects  more  conspicuous.  For  the  one  black  spot  blossomed  out 
into  a  halo  of  blackness,  in  which  I  could  only  see  a  protuberance  that 
must  be  the  nose,  since  it  was  where  the  nose  ought  to  be,  with  faint 


254  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

The  kindly  spirit  of  the  Sultan  shows  itself  in  private 
intercourse.  The  Italian  minister  told  me  that  when  he 
was  about  to  embark  for  Italy,  and  came  to  take  leave, 
the  Sultan  asked  why  he  went ;  and  being  told  that  "  it 
was  to  see  his  mother,"  answered,  in  his  soft  voice:  "  If 
I  had  the  honor  to  know  3'our  mother  I  should  tell  her 
how  proud  she  ought  to  be  to  be  the  mother  of  such  a 
son,"  and  desired  to  be  remembered  to  her.  "  And,"  said 
the  minister,  "  when  he  sent  an  embassy  to  Rome,  he 
directed  them  to  seek  out  the  home  of  my  mother,  and 
to  present  to  her  the  respects  of  the  Sultan  of  Morocco." 
This  is  not  the  manner  of  a  barbarian. 

But  Avhatever  may  be  the  natural  instincts  of  the  man, 
the  form  of  government,  of  which  he  is  the  head,  is  too 

traces  of  eyes  above  and  mouth  below.  This  was  discouraging  ;  but  I 
was  told  of  an  artist  who  could  make  something  out  of  nothing — that 
is,  could  take  the  faintest  outline,  and,  by  delicate  touches  here  and 
there,  develop  it  into  something  of  human  shape.  He  took  it,  and 
after  a  week  or  two  brought  me  the  black  spot  with  all  its  vagueness 
cleared  away,  and  in  its  place  the  full,  rounded  face  of  a  man.  It  was 
a  face  worthy  of  a  king  ! 

But  whether  it  had  any  resemblance  to  the  real,  living  Sultan  was 
another  question.  To  determine  this  I  sent  it  back  to  Africa,  to  be 
inspected  by  those  who  had  often  looked  the  Sultan  in  the  face ;  and 
received  a  letter  from  the  American  Consul,  in  which  he  says  : 

"  The  picture  of  the  Sultan  is  excellent.  I  showed  it  to  the  Governor 
of  Tangier  [the  Bashaw],  to  the  Moorish  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
and  to  the  Chief  Administrator  of  Customs  ;  all  of  whom  at  once  ex- 
claimed *  His  Majesty,  our  master  ! '  kissed  the  picture,  and  said,  '  May 
the  Lord  and  Mohammed  always  bring  him  out  victorious  ! '  In  fact, 
every  one  to  whom  I  have  shown  it  has  pronounced  it  *  excellent,'  and 
*  just  like  him  ! '    The  artist  who  enlarged  it  deserves  great  credit." 

As  the  result  of  this  long  chase,  I  think  I  may  fairly  claim  to  be  in 
possession  of  the  best  portrait  of  the  Sultan  of  Morocco  in  existence, 
indeed  of  the  only  one  that  can  pretend  to  be  an  authentic  likeness  of 
the  greatest  monarch  of  Africa. 


THE    SULTAN    OF    MOROCCO 


A  SOUND  OF   WAR  255 

strong  for  him.  Its  iron  mask  hides  all  human  features, 
and  its  coat  of  mail  stifles  all  human  sympathies. 

There  are  methods  of  administration  that  are  the  legacy 
of  ages  of  misgovernment,  to  reform  which  is  beyond 
human  power.  In  all  Moslem  countries,  while  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  religion,  there  is  no  law,  or  none  but  the 
Koran ;  and  whether  it  shall  work  for  the  good  of  the 
people,  or  for  oppression  and  cruelty,  depends  upon  those 
who  administer  it.  Here  would  be  the  best  place  in 
the  world  for  civil  service  reform.  But  that  would  be 
taking  altogether  too  much  pains  with  a  very  simple 
matter.  In  the  empire  of  the  Sultan  the  office  does  not 
seek  the  man,  but  the  man  the  office.  There  is  no 
roundabout  way  of  making  application  or  drumming  up 
voters.  If  a  man  wants  an  office,  he  goes  for  it,  and 
pays  for  it  as  he  would  pay  for  anything  in  the  market. 
Why  should  he  not  pay  ?  He  has  no  salary.  He  takes 
the  office  for  what  he  can  get  from  it ;  what  he  can 
squeeze  out  of  the  people ;  and  the  hand  of  a  Moorish 
governor  is  very  heavy,  and  he  can  squeeze  very  hard. 

So  in  the  administration  of  justice  there  is  no  attempt 
to  hold  the  balance  even.  If  a  man  has  a  claim  against 
his  neighbor,  he  goes  to  the  Cadi,  and  of  course,  in  the 
Oriental  fashion,  he  takes  a  present.  This  he  does  not 
offer  openly  to  him  who  sits  in  the  seat  of  judgment, 
for  that  would  be  an  awkward  and  unprofessional  way 
of  doing  it ;  but  a  servant  follows,  and  deposits  it  in  some 
corner  of  the  room,  just  in  sight,  though  the  incorrupt- 
ible judge  never  turns  his  eye  in  that  direction.  But  the 
man  gets  his  case,  and  it  has  cost  him  but  a  small  sum, 
for  justice  (!)  is  cheap  in  this  country.  But  as  he  departs  in 
triumph,  his  neighbor  appears,  and,  behold,  he  hath  some- 
thing in  his  hand,  which  leads  the  Cadi  to  see  things  in 


256  THE  BARBARY   COAST 

a  new  light,  whereupon  -he  reverses  his  former  decision ! 
But  the  game  is  not  ended,  for  thereupon  the  first  suitor 
returns  and  "  goes  one  better."  This  tips  the  beam  the 
other  way,  till  the  Cadi  gets  new  ideas  of  the  immense 
importance  of  the  case,  and,  in  order  to  be  absolutely 
just,  without  fear  or  favor,  summons  the  two  parties 
before  him  on  a  certain  day,  when  he  will  hear  and 
adjudge  their  cause,  which  both  understand  to  be  a 
timely  notice  that  whichever  brings  the  larger  bribe 
shall  receive  the  award!     This  is  Moorish  justice! 

Even  more  shockin^:  than  this  are  the  usasres  in  war. 
The  Sultan  is  constantly  at  war,  not  with  foreign  powers, 
but  with  rebellious  tribes,  and  takes  the  field  himself, 
not  to  gain  victories  by  pitched  battles,  but  to  let  loose 
the  spirit  of  murder  by  offering  a  reward  for  the  head 
of  every  rebel  that  is  brought  to  him.  No  other  hint  is 
needed  that  they  are  to  make  no  prisoners!  If  a 
wounded  rebel  is  found  lying  on  the  ground,  he  is  not 
carried  to  a  hospital  nor  left  to  suffer,  but  his  head  is 
cut  off  on  the  spot,  and  carried  to  headquarters  to  get 
the  reward.  If  heads  are  plenty,  it  is  an  occasion  for 
rejoicing  in  the  camp,  and  the  cavalry  come  riding  in, 
carrying  aloft  on  the  points  of  their  spears  the  bloody 
trophies  of  their  victory. 

]Nor  is  this  the  only  use  that  is  made  of  such  trophies. 
These  heads  are  too  precious  to  be  thrown  away  or 
buried  in  a  potter's  field,  and  they  are  put  in  brine  like 
hams  !  As  this  "  pickling  "  of  heads  is  unworthy  of  the 
proud  Moor,  it  is  put  upon  the  Jews,  as  a  low  caste  that 
are  only  fit  for  such  degradation.  A  lady,  who  visited  a 
city  in  the  interior,  told  me  that  she  once  saw  a  train  of 
donkeys  saddled  with  panniers  that  were  filled  with  the 
heads  of  rebels !     When  these  were  "  cured  "  they  were 


CAVALRY    RETURNING    WITH    THE    HEADS    OF    REBELS 


A  SOUND   OF   WAR  257 

mounted  on  spikes,  and  placed  over  the  gates  of  the 
capital.  This  is  barbarism  indeed,  to  the  verge  of  sav- 
agery !  But  it  is  the  custom  of  the  country  ;  and  the 
rabble  of  Fez,  if  deprived  of  the  ghastly  spectacle,  might 
'show  their  displeasure  as  did  the  Roman  populace,  if  they 
could  not  have  their  fill  of  blood  in  the  Coliseum. 

Surrounded  by  such  barbarians,  what  could  the  Sultan 
do,  if  he  were  the  most  enlightened  ruler  in  the  world  ? 
Already  the  ultra-Moslem  party  look  upon  him  as  lean- 
ing too  much  towards  the  hated  foreigner.  He  cannot 
introduce  any  modern  improvements,  such  as  railroads  or 
telegraphs.  He  cannot  open  trade  with  foreign  countries. 
The  English  embassy  that  came  last  year,  to  negotiate 
a  commercial  treaty,  remained  in  Fez  for  months,  and 
returned  without  accomplishing  anything. 

Tlie  Sultan  cannot  control  his  own  people.  Probably 
no  man  in  Morocco  is  more  indignant  at  the  madness  of 
the  Eiffs  at  Melilla  in  making  war  upon  the  Spaniards 
without  his  authority.  No  doubt  he  would  be  glad  to 
have  the  leaders  in  his  power,  and  to  hang  up  their  heads 
over  his  gates.  But  the  moment  he  should  march  against 
them,  he  would  rouse  the  anger  and  hatred  of  all 
Morocco  against  himself.  Already  there  have  been  mut- 
terings  in  the  mosques  of  Fez  for  his  want  of  sympathy 
with  the  most  fanatical  party,  a  feeling  which  might 
attempt  his  assassination.  He  is  aware  of  his  datiger, 
and  surrounds  himself  with  a  guard,  not  of  Moors,  but 
of  blacks  from  the  Soudan,  stalwart  fellows,  who  are 
taken  into  the  palace,  and,  being  treated  as  favorites, 
become  devoted  to  his  fortunes.  With  these  trusty 
guards  always  at  hand,  and  a  hard-headed  Scotchman 
to  drill  his  household  troops,  the  Sultan  may  feel  secure 
that  he  shall  die  in  his  nest. 
17 


258  THE   BARBARY   COAST 

But  after  him  the  deluge  !  So  say  they  all  at  Tangier. 
Everything  is  rotten  in  the  state ;  but  how  to  get  rid  of 
it  ?  And  if  the  Moor  is  driven  out,  who  shall  come  after 
him  ?  There  is  no  want  of  claimants  for  the  succession. 
France,  if  she  were  left  with  a  free  hand,  would  under-  * 
take  the  conquest  alone,  that  she  might  have  Morocco 
to  "  round  out "  her  African  empire.  But  here  is  Spain, 
in  sight  of  the  promised  land,  and  quite  ready  to  pass 
over  and  possess  it ;  while  England,  from  the  heights 
of  Gibraltar,  looks  grimly  down,  determined  that  neither 
shall  be  able  to  fortify  the  African  coast,  and  dispute  her 
control  of  the  Mediterranean.  These  rivalries  may  render 
concert  impossible,  and  prevent  any  action,  as  they  have 
done  in  another  notable  case.  For  a  generation  the  ques- 
tion has  been,  What  shall  Christian  Europe  do  with  the 
Turk?  And  now  it  is.  What  shall  it  do  with  the  Moor  ? 
In  neither  case  has  it  done  anything.  The  jealousies  of 
Christian  Powers  have  kept  one  Sultan  on  the  throne  of 
Turkey,  and  may  keep  another  on  the  throne  of  Morocco. 

But  sooner  or  later  the  crash  must  come.  But  the 
conquest  will  not  be  an  easy  one.  The  Moor  will  not 
surrender  at  the  first  summons.  He  has  acted  a  great 
part  in  history,  and  now  if  it  is  to  be  a  struggle  for  exist- 
ence, he  will  not  perish  without  giving  one  more  proof  of 
his  courage  and  his  power.  Nor  will  he  fight  his  battles 
alone.  It  will  be  a  holy  war,  a  cry  that  will  be  taken  up 
along  the  whole  of  Northern  Africa.  With  such  portents 
the  century  is  drawing  to  a  close.  The  clouds  hang  low 
on  the  horizon.  With  forebodings  of  the  greatest  of  all 
tragedies,  a  war  of  races  and  of  religions,  the  world  looks 
across  the  Mediterranean  to  see  the  curtain  rise. 


MAP    OF    THE 


BARY    COAST 


UCSB    LIBRARY 


